Top five wins of Arkansas basketball's 2022-23 season

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The college basketball season is over, and with the UConn Huskies winning the national championship, the Arkansas Razorbacks have officially lost to the eventual national champion in two of the last three NCAA Tournaments (Baylor, 2021).

While it's unfortunate that the Hogs ran into a buzzsaw in the Huskies, there were plenty of big wins this season. In a year that might always go down as a "what if" due to injuries, head coach Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks still managed to make a third-straight Sweet Sixteen.

Let's take a look back at the five best wins for Arkansas in the 2022-23 season, plus a few honorable mentions:

For the second straight year, the Razorbacks took down a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament with a 72-71 upset of the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the Round of 32.

Junior guard Davonte "Devo" Davis led the way with 21 second half points to keep pace with the Jayhawks and give the Razorbacks a chance. In the end, it was clutch free throw shooting from Ricky Council IV and a magical tip from Jordan Walsh to Council, who drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws to give the Hogs a three-point lead and ice the game with 20 seconds left.

For a team that really struggled with free throw shooting this season, Arkansas hit 21-of-26 shots from the charity stripe and it also out-rebounded the Jayhawks in the contest.

Musselman said after the game that his players had the buy-in to be more than prepared despite a short amount of rest leading up to the matchup.

"Not many teams shot today, they gave up their practice time," Musselman said after the game. "So I told them, hey, guys, let's do a walk-through and film and I can walk you through what we need to and Ricky and Devo stood up and said no, Coach, we want to go to the gym and I said I was worried about legs and they said, nope."

Kansas' eight-point halftime lead was the largest its ever blown in an NCAA Tournament game and the contest also marked the Razorbacks' first ever NCAA Tournament win over the Jayhawks.

Relive it:

Social media reacts to Arkansas' 72-71 win over Kansas

Eric Musselman, Ricky Council IV, Devo Davis postgame - Arkansas 72, Kansas 71

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Who would've predicted that Arkansas was playing the eventual national runner-up when this game went down? The Hogs were coming off a disappointing 90-87 loss to Creighton the previous day and they were going up against then-No. 17 San Diego State in their final game at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 23.

Down by 13 at one point in the first half, the Razorbacks battled back with strong second half performances from Council, Trevon Brazile and Kamani Johnson, whose follow shot at the the end of the regulation sent the game to overtime.

Brazile hit three second half 3-pointers and scored 16 total points in the period. Council added 13 points and four assists in the second half, which saw Arkansas outscore the Aztecs by nine.

After entering the game for the first time with 14:25 to play in the second half, Johnson played 19 total minutes and his follow shot wasn't the only big play. He grabbed an offensive rebound and then laid in a basket to put Arkansas up 75-72 in overtime, then he secured a tough defensive rebound with 3.7 seconds to play, drew a foul and hit both of the ensuing free throws to seal the win.

"We got down by 10 and coach put me in and I was ready for the moment," Johnson said on the Arkansas postgame radio show. "I feel like I'm one of the leaders on the team and I had to show them how to fight."

Relive it:

Arkansas battles back to beat No. 17 San Diego State in OT, 78-74

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WATCH: Musselman, Brazile talk 78-74 win over San Diego State

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After a 1-5 start to SEC play, Arkansas reeled off five straight conference wins, including an absolutely dominant 15-point win over the Wildcats in Rupp Arena on Feb. 7.

Arkansas' 62.7% shooting from the field tied a program record for field goal shooting percentage in an SEC game (2016 at Missouri). That number was benefitted from a whopping 72% shooting from the field in the second half. Arkansas also shot 44.4% from three and it was 20-of-24 from the free throw line.

Five players scored in double-digits, including Anthony Black (19 points) and Ricky Council IV (20 points).

The Razorbacks also performed very well defensively, holding the reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe to just seven points and seven rebounds. Makhel Mitchell played a big role in that, as he blocked five shots — two of which came in a single sequence against Tshiebwe — and he added 15 points, four rebounds and a team-best plus-minus of plus-20.

Arkansas led for 32:35 of the game and forced 15 turnovers by Kentucky. The game marked Musselman's 200th win as a college head coach and it also marked the first time Arkansas won back-to-back games in Rupp Arena.

Relive it:

Social media reacts to Arkansas' 88-73 win at Kentucky

WATCH: Musselman, Davis, Black react to 88-73 win at Kentucky

Takeaways, notes, stats from Arkansas' 88-73 win at Kentucky

Arkansas defeats Kentucky, 88-73

Arkansas drew a tough matchup against a talented Illinois team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but it didn't faze the Razorbacks, who led for 37:15 of the game.

A strong first half led to a 10-point lead at halftime for an Arkansas team that established a physical presence early against the nation's No. 2 shot blocking team.

Despite having a previous trend of blowing halftime leads in a few games throughout the season, the Hogs managed to keep the Fighting Illini from stealing the win. It wasn't easy, though, as Illinois opened the second half on a 7-2 run.

While it seemed like another double-digit lead was in jeopardy of being blown, the Hogs held on and even stretched the advantage to 17 at one point.

Another key to victory was being better than Illinois at its game — physicality in the paint. The Razorbacks out-rebounded the Illini 43-34 and outscored them in the paint by six.

"Our rebounding was a big key," Musselman said. "Felt like Illinois was so long, so tall, maybe the most athletic team in the Big Ten. I thought we did a phenomenal job on the glass."

The two veterans — Davis and Johnson — showed out in this one. Johnson started and had four offensive rebounds in 12 minutes compared to Illinois' three offensive rebounds as a team in the entire game. Davis scored 16 points, six rebounds, a team-high four steals and played all 20 minutes in the second half.

Relive it:

Social media reacts to Arkansas' 73-63 win over Illinois

WATCH: Musselman, Council, Davis recap win over Illinois

Takeaways, notes, stats from Arkansas' 73-63 win over Illinois

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This one could've been one of a few games, but the win over then-No. 20 Missouri on Jan. 4 was an impressive one.

Arkansas overcame a 17-point deficit in the first half thanks to a strong second half performance from Council and a 13-point outing off the bench from freshman Joseph Pinion.

Council was minus-18 and had just four points in the first half, earning him a spot on the bench until the 15:02 mark in the second half. After that point, he didn't sit again for the rest of the game. The transfer from Wichita State scored 21 points across that span, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 10-of-11 at the free throw line.

Pinion played a season-high 27 minutes and tied his season-best with 13 points. When Arkansas' offense continued to be stagnant in the first half against Missouri's zone defense, Musselman went to Pinion to space out the floor. The Morrilton product led Arkansas with seven points at halftime, and his 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the first half gave the Hogs momentum going into the break.

Arkansas also out-rebounded Missouri by 17 and four players had at least seven rebounds. Of Arkansas' first 16 points, 11 came off offensive rebounds against the Tigers.

The Razorbacks extended an 8-game winning streak in Fayetteville in games that it trailed at halftime, which included four SEC games. That was Razorbacks' longest such winning streak since January 1945, according to HogStats.com. The game also made the Hogs' record 12-2 at that point, but they then lost four straight.

Relive it:

Arkansas beats Missouri 74-68 in top-20 showdown

WATCH: Musselman, Council, Pinion recap 74-68 win over Missouri

Takeaways, stats, notes from Arkansas' 74-68 win over Missouri

San Jose State (Dec. 3) - Arkansas 99, San Jose State 58

This will always be the "what if" game. Arkansas won by 41 in the only game all season that it was at full strength.

Brazile scored a game-high 23 points, Nick Smith Jr. added 16 points, Council scored 17 and Arkansas outscored San Jose State by 22 in the paint. The Razorbacks had 44 bench points, 23 fast break points and 32 points off turnovers.

Oklahoma (Dec. 10) - Arkansas 88, Oklahoma 78

This was the first game after Brazile suffered his season-ending torn ACL against UNC Greensboro. Council and Smith combined to score 47 points and led the Razorbacks to a revenge victory against the Sooners, who beat the Hogs in 2021.

Arkansas had 19 assists, 10 steals and outscored Oklahoma by 14 in the paint. The Razorbacks led by as much as 16 points in the second half and the final score doesn't fully paint the picture of how much this win meant at the time given the circumstances.

Texas A&M (Jan. 31) - Arkansas 81, Texas A&M 70

While Texas A&M was having a successful season to this point, most probably didn't expect this to be one of its three losses in conference play all year.

Four Razorbacks scored in double-digits, including Council and Davis, who both scored 19. Arkansas had 13 blocked shots in the game, seven of which came from Makhel Mitchell, who also added nine points and 13 rebounds.

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