The Arkansas Razorbacks (11-7, 0-5 SEC) took it on the chin for the fifth Southeastern Conference game in a row Saturday in their 83-65 loss to the Missouri Tigers (15-3, 4-1 SEC) at Mizzou Arena.
There’s no other way to put it — the Razorbacks are in bad shape both physically and mentally. Injuries have plagued the team seemingly all year, with the latest being a hand injury to freshman guard Boogie Fland that he suffered against Florida on Jan. 11, according to coach John Calipari.
On top of the physical struggles, Calipari said he’s trying to keep his team’s mindset right amid this nasty losing streak.
“Look, all I can tell you is my whole thought is ‘how do I keep this team in a mindset that they understand, it’s a team that beat Michigan,’” Calipari said. “It’s a team that went on the road and won. It’s a team that has won tough games, lost a couple tough ones. Then you get in this league, it can demoralize you.”
Arkansas forward Adou Thiero said after the game that mentality is a big part of basketball and the team needs to power through the challenge of the SEC.
“A lot of this is mental,” Thiero said. “Part of basketball is how mentally strong you can be, and this is definitely testing us. But we got to face adversity and get through that.”
That challenge will only get more difficult moving forward with Fland out. Arkansas’ rotation is already short by design, which means other players will need to step up in his absence.
“We’ve got nine guys and if Boogie is out for a while, we may have eight guys,” Calipari said. “Well, guess what those eight guys got to do? Play well. All of them. You can’t have four of the eight and get it done and that means again, mindsets.”
Arkansas will be home for its next matchup against the No. 23 Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. and the game will air on the SEC Network.
