‘Still evolving’ Hogs take down No. 1 seed
DES MOINES, Iowa — Eric Musselman described his fresh-faced Arkansas squad as “still evolving” — two games into the NCAA Tournament. That evolution might spell trouble for the Razorbacks’ Sweet 16 opponent later this week in Las Vegas, Nev.
“I’ve been coaching a long time,” said an elated Musselman, caught up in the moment of toppling top-seeded Kansas on Saturday night. “That’s as great a win as I’ve ever been a part of.”
Arkansas spent plenty of time in Houston as a member of the Southwest Conference from 1925 to 1991, and the Razorbacks are two wins from a Bayou City visit after edging the Jayhawks 72-71 in Wells Fargo Arena.
“I know that the state of Arkansas is on fire right now,” Musselman said.
He did not mean in a literal way. The state is crazy for hoops, but 1995 was the last time the Razorbacks played in the Final Four, which is at NRG Stadium on April 1-3. The Razorbacks’ 22-13 record won’t wow anyone, but their sky-high talent level and ability to crank it up when necessary is swiveling heads in the postseason.
“It was a tough game, and give Arkansas credit,” Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts said. “They did a great job in the second half attacking us.”
Musselman described reigning national champion Kansas as a “well-oiled machine” regardless of whether Jayhawks boss Bill Self is on the sideline. The staggered Jayhawks looked like they were skidding on grease at times in the second half, however, as the rising Razorbacks wiped out a 12-point deficit to knock off a No. 1 seed for a second consecutive year.
Last season they beat top-seeded Gonzaga in San Francisco to advance to their second straight Elite Eight under Musselman, the 58-year-old former Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings head coach. The Razorbacks will face the winner of fourth-seeded Connecticut and fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s, which play Sunday evening in Albany, N.Y.
“They did a good job of getting to the glass and getting their hands on balls and (creating) deflects, and we knew they were very active with their hands and their athletic ability,” Roberts said of Arkansas’ overall length and propensity for giving teams fits on both ends of the court.
Musselman, in a quirky tradition dating to his days coaching Nevada, yanked off his shirt on the court to celebrate afterward, and put it back on for a postgame interview.
Incredibly, Arkansas lost more games than it won in regular season Southeastern Conference competition (8-10), but the Razorbacks are loaded with talent, including two potential top-10 selections of the NBA draft this summer in freshmen guards Nick Smith Jr. and Anthony Black.
It was Arkansas junior guard Davonte Davis, however, who stole the show Saturday, in scoring 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as the Razorbacks erased the double-digit deficit.
“It feels unreal right now,” Davis said. “I know we feel like we’re at the top of the world, (but) we want to continue to get better.”
One of the game’s biggest plays occurred when Arkansas forward Kamani Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound with 47 seconds remaining and the resulting layup shoved the Razorbacks to a 67-65 lead.
Arkansas guard Ricky Council IV also grabbed an offensive rebound off his own missed free throw with 23 seconds remaining. Council was fouled and coolly made the two resulting free throws to give Arkansas a 70-67 lead with 20 seconds left.
The maturing Razorbacks finished ninth in the SEC regular season before winning their first two games of the NCAA Tournament against ninthseeded Illinois and then Kansas.
Musselman has said his team needs to continue playing “with a free mind and not feel pressure” — and the Razorbacks certainly did so with the season on the line against one of the nation’s top teams.
“It’s really hard to beat the defending champions and the No. 1 seed,” Musselman said. “We did it.”
Self has run Kansas’s practices but has sat out the postseason games as he continues recovering from doctors inserting two stents into his heart to help open blocked arteries, after he checked into a Kansas City hospital March 8. Roberts has coached the postseason games, including the Big 12 tournament, in Self’s absence.
“It was tough not having coach here,” Roberts said, “but we don’t make any excuses.”