1 in 100: Hogs Make History
DOUBTERS INVITED TO HIDE IN THEIR OWN SHADE BY HOGS
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The SEC's orphaned pigs took everyone's criticism and doubt and took a moment after the game to let those who wrote them off know that they could stuff it.
It was mentioned in a story on allHogs earlier this week that the constant insults and, in the case of the SEC, just plain being ignored, would somehow find its way to the white board, and Musselman confirmed exactly that as soon as the game ended.
"We believed," Musselman said. "Nobody else did. We read everything. We put it up on our screen every single meal! Thank you to everybody who said we didn't have a chance."
"It's just great toughness!, Musselman said. "We're not always pleasing cosmetically offensively, but we win!" Musselman
"We saw what everybody else said and we believed in ourself from the jump," Williams said. "We just kept fighting and kept fighting and we did our thing tonight.
"It's our fight. It's our grit! It's our never give up. No matter what we are down, no matter what the place looks like, not matter what it's looking like for the offense on their side, we're gonna keep on fighting no matter what and keep defending."
Arkansas was favored to lose by nearly 10 points. The Hogs are now the first team to take down the No. 1 team in the regular season against Auburn and also against the No. 1 team in the NCAA tournament.
HOGS UNDEFEATED WITH GRANT HILL ON THE COURT
The second former Duke guard Grant Hill showed up on the sidelines in San Francisco, the 38+ Arkansas crowd had to take it as a good omen. Hill was the star for Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils when the two faced off in essentially a home game for Duke for the national championship in 1994.
Considering the last time Hill was on the floor with the Razorbacks it led to a national championship, there was reason for hope.
HUGE NIGHT FOR MUSSELMAN
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Not only did Musselman get the Hogs to a second consecutive Elite 8 in the same town where he used to coach the Golden State Warriors, but he got to do it while accomplishing multiple firsts.
His mother had never seen him coach the Hogs. She lives in San Diego and was able to make the game tonight to see a win that not only saw her son's team advance in the tournament, but also was the first time Arkansas has taken down a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
Also in attendance was Golden State's Steph Curry, who plays with former Arkansas Razorback Moses Moody from last year's Elite 8 team.
In Musselman's 100th game as coach of the Razorbacks, he was able to help a team that ended the Hog's consecutive 3-point streak during a rough early season stretch, to end a more meaningful 0-10 streak against No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.
THE CHALK IS BROKEN
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The West Region was the only region with all four of the top seeds to advance to the regional semifinals.
No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 4 Arkansas all made it.
However, for Arkansas to reach the Final Four, the Hogs will have to end the career of Krzyzewski. Fans might remember that last week when ESPN had a mock NBA draft made up only of NCAA tournament players, the entire starting five for Duke went higher than any Razorback by nearly a full round.
MUTUAL RESPECT
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Gonzaga's Drew Timme and Arkansas's Jaylin Williams went to war in a battle of the "Sweet Stache vs. the Sweet Smile."
In a move that caught the in-studio analysts panel off guard, Williams was primarily left alone to battle Timme most of the night. In the end, Williams came away with 15 points and a dozen rebounds, while Timme chipped away for 25 points, much of which came from the line while only collecting seven rebounds.
Gonzaga pushed the tempo early, which may have actually hurt the Bulldogs down the stretch. As part of an early run, Williams got to see a flash of what Timme can do.
Timme took Williams to school with spin move to the glass on offensive end and disrupted Williams's offensive game on the other end of the floor. Williams was visibly tired from keeping up with Timme's initial burst of adrenaline and asked to step out.
The two battled it out the rest of the night, and finished in a hug of mutual respect reminiscent of the scene in Rocky after the first fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed.
BLOCK PARTY
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Arkansas came in physically able to play a physical game with its solidly built collection of guards and forwards. However, it was pure athleticism that made the difference for the Hogs as key blocks on what should have been easy points swung the momentum toward the Razorbacks over and over again.
JD Notae dug the Hogs out of a hole with a block early on after Gonzaga took a quick lead in what looked like a pick-up game down at the local YMCA.
He would add another block during the half, along with key blocks by Williams and Trey Wade to help build a 3-point halftime lead.
Au'Diese Toney added a pair of blocks in the final 24 seconds to secure the win. One came at the last possible second as Timme slipped by Williams while the Hogs clung to a 66-62 lead. The other came at the 10 second mark and will be on Razorback highlight reels for decades to come.
Gonzaga guard Andrew Nemhard had just hit the ugliest three ever taken with 16.5 seconds while on the run to his right. It was just a freak heave from his shoulder that made it a one-possession game.
Nemhard was determined to be the tournament hero for the Zags as he went the length of the floor with a chance to make it a one possession game again. He got Williams moving backward to create an open lay-up, but Toney came from behind with a huge left-handed block on his lower palm that nearly drove the ball through the back board as he saw the potential block develop all the way.
"We just wanted to be physical, plain and simple," Musselman said. "We wanted them to feel bodies. I played in that league."
"I know what some of the teams are like in that league and the physicality and the speed that we can play with is just different. Obviously they played a really tough schedule early in the season, but it's been a long time in conference play since they face a team like us. We weren't gonna back down, I can tell you that."
NO FEAR NOTAE
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Gonzaga has a lot of height in the middle with Timme and Chet Holmgren, but that didn't scare away Notae and it appeared to catch the Bulldogs a bit off guard at times.
Notae was relentless in his attack of the basket, looking to draw key fouls if he couldn't get points. At one point he was in the zone so deep that the entire building and everyone at home knew he was going to drive the length of the floor to take the final shot of the first half.
It didn't matter though as Notae beat the entire Gonzaga defense for a lay-up as time expired to give the Hogs a 32-29 lead and the momentum at the half. That play shortly after Notae ripped Timme's heart out by answering a shot that game Gonzaga the lead with less than a minute in the half with a score of his own.
Notae finished with 21 points on 29 shots.
ROLE PLAYERS ROLL
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
What sets Arkansas apart from the other teams in the field is its ability to be a team. It's probably not easy for guys who were stars elsewhere to accept their roles coming off the bench in limited times, but their respect has been earned.
Chris Lykes came in literally cold off the bench and was, for the second consecutive game, asked to be the stone cold killer he is when it comes to putting teams away at the free throw line. Much respect.
Gonzaga was beginning to break mentally from the relentless defense and tired legs come from too much adrenaline early and trying to push through a more athletic Arkansas team.
If that let up, the Razorbacks would lose the edge, but Kamani Johnson came in used brute force and fresh legs to keep the pressure going for four minutes when Musselman's crew could get by with no less. Much respect.
With Musselman needing extra legs to keep from getting run out of the gym early on, Trey Wade came through rough and dirty with dunks, rebounds, three, blocks, steals and he probably ran to the back to mix up the Gatorade in between.
Wade had logged almost no time the past few months, yet here he was against the No. 1 team literally dominating as the game came to him. Much respect.
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