Can Arkansas find confidence for postseason run?
Three straight tough losses to end the regular season for the Arkansas Razorbacks (19-12, 8-10) not only took a toll on the fanbase, but it was also mentally taxing on the team.
Following Saturday's 88-79 loss to Kentucky inside Bud Walton Arena — which was the team's third straight after losses at Alabama and Tennessee — freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. said losing three in a row is not easy to take mentally.
"Losing three in a row, you know, that takes a toll on confidence for our team," Smith said. "But as a leader, I’ve got to come out ready to practice and tell the guys the season’s not over. We’ve just got to come ready to play (Thursday)."
Unlike Arkansas' 5-1 finish to the regular season in 2022 or the 8-0 finish in 2021, the team saw a 2-5 output across the final seven games of this season. They didn't show the late season turnaround that has been displayed during Musselman's tenure in Fayetteville, but that doesn't mean it's too late to do so.
"You look at our schedule in league and the five teams that we played twice and four of them are the top seeds in the SEC Tournament," Musselman said. "Bama being 1, A&M 2, Kentucky 3 and Missouri 4. So it was a difficult end to the season for sure. Four of our last six games were against teams that are top 25 teams. But you’re right, this is a second season for us. We should have excitement going into Nashville."
Thursday's matchup with Auburn at the SEC Tournament marks the start of what Musselman referred to as a "new season" for the Razorbacks, and he seemed to remain confident that his team can right the ship.
"Well, hopefully I'm always confident and have great belief in the team," Musselman said Tuesday. "I'm not taking any shots. We need the team to feel confident. We need the team to believe that we can win, and I think this team has that."
One positive is that the Hogs are a team that once was extremely inexperienced in SEC play — and just big games in general — and now they have a full season under their belts. Freshmen such as Anthony Black, Jordan Walsh and Smith now have an idea of the type of competition they will play moving forward.
Even with the newcomers — which also includes transfers like Ricky Council IV, the Mitchell twins and Jalen Graham — Musselman said Razorbacks will need to rely on the pair of players that have been on this stage before.
"Then when we look at experience in this tournament, Devo (Davis') pretty important because he’s the one guy that has experience in this tournament, and then Kamani (Johnson's) got a little as well," Musselman said. "So I think both of those guys are gonna have some importance in this postseason play."
Davis and Johnson were the only two returners for Arkansas entering this season and both were part of the past two seasons that featured postseason runs to the Elite Eight.
Make no mistake, this Arkansas team has the talent to stack up with most teams not just in the SEC but around the country. If Musselman can do like he said and get the younger players to understand that this is a new season, he could be able to work some more postseason magic and win back the Razorback fans that he lost over the past two weeks.
"I'm hopeful and think this team is excited to go play," Musselman said. "But we have an opponent that's going to be excited too. That's what makes these games so competitive. I'm sure everybody on Auburn is excited as well, and that's the mentality everybody should have."
The Razorbacks and Auburn Tigers are scheduled to tipoff at 6 p.m. CT Thursday inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.