TULSA, Okla. — Arkansas dug itself a deep hole at the start of the game and couldn’t ever climb out of it Saturday afternoon.
After scoring the first 13 points, Oklahoma weathered runs by the No. 12 Razorbacks and eventually pulled away for an 88-66 win inside the BOK Center.
It was Arkansas’ first loss of the season, marking the second straight year it has started 9-0 before suffering a double-digit loss to lose its perfect record. The Sooners improved to 8-2 with the win.
“I thought Oklahoma played an incredible game,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “We dug ourselves a hole to start the game. We clawed ourselves back in there to be down three or four or whatever it was. … We got out-toughed today to be quite honest.”
Despite trailing by as many as 15 points early in the second half, Arkansas managed to cut the deficit to single digits and actually got within three when JD Notae was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws.
The Razorbacks seemed like they’d get the ball back in a one-possession game, but they failed to secure a rebound, Oklahoma came up with it and got fouled on a layup attempt. The ensuing two free throws kick started a 29-6 run by the Sooners.
“I’m really disappointed tonight with everything, so we’ll get back to the drawing board and see what happens moving forward,” Musselman said.
Here are a few other notes and key takeaways from the Razorbacks’ loss to the Sooners…
Musselman Ejected
During a 17-0 stretch by Oklahoma, Musselman was clearly frustrated with some calls and received two quick technicals to get ejected from the game with 3:30 remaining.
The third-year coach was fuming and had to be restrained by his staff before his son, Director of Recruiting Michael Musselman, helped escort him off the floor.
“I’m not going to talk about the reffing,” Musselman said afterward. “You guys watched the game. I had my opinion, and I’ll leave it at that.”
It is the second time he’s been ejected during his tenure at Arkansas. The first time also happened to be in the team’s first loss of the season, as he was tossed during the Razorbacks’ 81-68 loss to Missouri back in January.
