All the Focus Now on Razorbacks' Game with Auburn on Tuesday
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Auburn won't be the first No. 1-ranked team to ever come to Bud Walton.
Tuesday night's matchup will be the first chance Eric Musselman has had to do something nobody else has done at the arena opened in the 1993-94 season.
Arkansas hasn't played a team ranked No. 1 by the media in the arena.
It's really only a big deal for the fans.
Nelson Chenault / USA TODAY Sports
"It doesn’t mean anything," Jaylin Williams said after Saturday night's 63-55 win over Mississippi State. ""It’s just a ranking. It’s just a number. We’re ready to play them."
This Razorback team seems to be finding ways to win games. Like they did against Bulldogs.
Nobody appeared to be able to win the game. The Hogs would pull away a little, then the Bulldogs would come roaring back behind Iverson Molinar.
At the end, though, the Hogs clutch shots from Williams, Davonte Davis and Chris Lykes, the shortest guy on the team.
Nobody seemed to dwell on that a lot right after the game.
"As soon as I get home, I’ll be watching Auburn film," Musselman said. "I can’t wait. It was fun tonight. Great crowd and great atmosphere and I think it will be a little bit different on Tuesday, too."
With over 16,000 folks showing up Saturday night when a lot of roads were terrible and it was below freezing, you can bet it will be packed Tuesday night.
"I’m already fired up for it," said Kamani Johnson later.
The Tigers will come in having escaped a devastating loss Saturday. The combination of Georgia playing better and the Tigers maybe having a lack of interest made it a 74-72 game that nobody expected to be that close.
But a win is a win and that seems to be the priority this team has bought into completely.
"Unless we’re all winning, nobody is going to get the shine," Williams said Saturday night. "We realized we had to win, we realized we had to lock down on defense, play together as a team.
"The best thing about our game and what’s made us so much better as a team is that we’re happy to see each other succeed on the court, and when we’re believing in each other, confident in each other, happy for each other’s success, like, who is going to stop us? We’re going to keep going."
Nelson Chenault / USA TODAY Sports
Arkansas Communications
Michael Morrison / allHOGS Images
Michael Morrison / allHOGS Images
Michael Morrison / allHOGS Images
Michael Morrison / allHOGS Images
Arkansas fans have had to deal with a roller-coaster of a season. Expectations were high at the start, then sailed into a ditch around an embarrassing loss to Hofstra and had nobody thinking about the NCAA.
Now, with an eight-game winning streak, there is hope something good happens against Auburn.
But, as Williams said, it means nothing.
"Every game is the biggest game of the year," he said. "(Saturday night) was the biggest game of the year for us. Tuesday is going to be the biggest game, and so on.
"It’s just a number. We’re ready to play them."
Tipoff for the game is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2 and FuboTV.
• Graphix look back at Hogs' football
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