Eric Musselman's no stranger to the wild ride of Big Dance games
HawgBeat's coverage of Arkansas's journey in the 2021 NCAA tournament is present by Wright's Barbecue. Already serving up the best meats in Arkansas, you can now also find Wright's meat rub and sauces at Walmart.
The No. 10-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks only have one player who's been in the NCAA tournament, Jalen Tate, but Eric Musselman has already had plenty of experience in the Big Dance despite just six seasons in the collegiate ranks as a head coach.
With a 2-3 record in NCAA tournament games, Musselman is already warning friends and family that tournament games are a wild ride.
"I told my wife and daughter and son Matthew that are flying in, like, put your seatbelt on because this thing’s crazy, and it’s going to be like a rollercoaster during the course of a 40-minute game," Musselman said.
After taking Nevada from 9-22 to 24-14 in his first season and winning the CBI Tournament title, the former NBA coach helped the Wolfpack reach the NCAA tournament the next three seasons.
None of Musselman's teams came in ranked as high as a 3-seed, however. After winning the Mountain West tournament to secure a bid, Nevada was a 12-seed in 2017. Two regular season titles in 2018 and 2019 helped them elevate to a 7-seed.
NevadaSportsNet reporter Chris Murray told HawgBeat ahead of round one: "One thing I'd note is Musselman's teams did drop into some big holes in most of his tournament games at Nevada before rallying. Never count out his teams even if things look meager."
Nevada's appearance in 2017 was the Wolfpack's first in a decade and they were riding high on an eight-game win streak. Facing 5-seed Iowa State who'd finished second in the Big12, Nevada lost by 11 in a fairly one-sided game.
Musselman and the No. 24 Wolfpack made the deepest run in the 2018 NCAA tournament. Going into round one versus a 10-seed Texas team featuring Mo Bamba, Nevada got down by 14 in the second half but fought their way back to take the game to overtime. Charlotte Hornet Caleb Martin went 3 for 3 from deep in OT after missing a potential buzzer-beater in regulation and Nevada won by four.
The Wolfpack had a quick turnaround the prepare for 2-seed Cincinnati and perhaps that factored into why Muss's squad once again found itself in a hole early. Trailing by 22 points midway through the second half, the Wolfpack flipped a switch. Cincinnati's defense, which ranked 2nd in the NCAA that year, gave up 32 points in the last 11 minutes while failing to make a basket in the final 5 minutes, 45 seconds–leading to a 75-73 victory. It was the second biggest comeback in tournament history.
Nevada's 2018 magic ran out in their first Sweet 16 appearance versus Loyola-Chicago. Musselman's guys held a tight lead for most of the first half but went to the halftime locker room down by four. A 10-point run by the Ramblers carried them through the four-minute mark when the Wolfpack tied the game up. Caleb Martin scored a three with two seconds remaining but Nevada needed a four-point play to go to OT and lost 69-68.
Musselman's 2019 Nevada team started the season off 24-1 but they finished at No. 20 in the final AP Poll after losing three of their last eight heading into the tournament.
Nevada was paired with 10-seed Florida who'd finished 8th in the SEC in the regular season. The Gators owned the top-ranked SEC defense and their slow pace of play staved off the Wolfpack who'd brought the game back within two after being down by 18 with 14 minutes left to play.
Musselman is looking for a fast start from his Hogs on Friday as they tip off at 11:45 a.m.
"You’ve got to wake up with some energy and enthusiasm," Musselman said. "I hope we don’t do what we did at the 12 o’clock tip against Missouri because I’ll be back there joining you guys in Fayetteville real quick if we don’t wake up.
"You’ve got to play relaxed. You’ve got to play composed, you’ve got to understand it’s a 40-minute game. If one team gets up 8-to-2, you cannot panic."
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