Arkansas Razorbacks guard Nick Smith Jr. reacts after being called for a foul during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies. — Arkansas Razorbacks guard Nick Smith Jr. (3) reacts after being called for a foul during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Bridgestone Arena. (Christopher Hanewinckel –USA TODAY Sports)

A&M Came for Fight in Middle of the Ring, Hogs Ran for Their Corner

Same old bad habits give Arkansas most losses ever under Musselman

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Mar 10, 2023 10:43 PM EST

In this story:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Just when you thought it was safe to watch an Arkansas basketball game, they did it again.

As has been the pattern all season, the Razorbacks built up a lead and fell back on a series of bad habits that have haunted this team all year before ultimately falling behind for good in the final five minutes of the game.

This time the lead blown was 13 points as the Razorbacks got smoked in the second half before being sent home with a 67-61 loss.

The 13 losses officially makes this the worst team of the Eric Musselman era and it didn't have to be that way. No one even needed to watch the game to know what happened.

Let's go through the usual beats.

Arkansas used high efficiency passing and player movement to build up a huge lead coupled with executing well on the defensive end. In the second half, they became that team from earlier in the season that stayed back and relied on long jumpers and refused to go after offensive rebounds.

Why? Because the second teams tighten down the defense to close off the paint, the Razorbacks lose the stomach for the attack.

They also stopped looking and feeling for passes. For instance, Arkansas had the ball with a chance to cut it to two with 20 seconds left. Smith drove the lane and drew a double team.

In the first half, a pass would have went to a wide open Makhi Mitchell for what would have been his second dunk in just a few seconds to bring an avalanche of momentum the Hogs' way. Instead, he forced and missed a shot.

Arkansas only mustered three assists the entire second half.

A season long gripe of fans, Musselman stood on the sideline for a long stretch and watched his team's 13-point lead evaporate to two before finally calling a timeout.

Once again, Arkansas looked shocked that the referees came out and called a tighter game to start the half like they do every game. Not once has this team adjusted to that fact.

As a result, the Razorbacks had two fouls in the first 45 seconds and six during the first six minutes of the half. With over 13 minutes left in the game, Texas A&M was in the bonus while having not committed a single foul.

And before anyone says anything, that had nothing to do with the refs. If an umpire in baseball has a low strike zone and you know it's going to be a low strike zone, then it's on you if you don't adjust.

They know it's coming and do it anyway.

The two most telling stats were, as usual, free throw shooting and rebounding.

Arkansas was 12-of-19 from the free throw line. Texas A&M was 18-of-24.

The Aggies were willing to be more aggressive on offense despite getting a ton of shots blocked in the first half. They were also mentally tougher when it came time to shoot free throws in high pressure moments.

Not only did they get more free throws, but Arkansas played softer defense late in the game because players didn't want to foul out.

However, it's in rebounding where it's easy to see that Arkansas didn't want any part of the fight. Overall, the Razorbacks got out-rebounded 43-26.

It was a dog fight down low and Musselman left his scrappiest dog in the kennel when it comes to these types of games. Kamani Johnson, who was a big part of why the Hogs pulled it out the night before against Auburn, never stepped foot on the court.

As far as 3-point shooting went, the Hogs didn't make a single one in the second half.

This is a team that desperately needed the SEC Tournament to learn how to win and develop a level of toughness that it's going to take to fight through the NCAA Tournament.

Everyone kept holding onto hope that the light would finally turn on, but unfortunately, this team never learned to develop a killer instinct and hasn't figured out how to adjust to an adjustment. To make matters worse, there's also no longer a leader on the floor.

The team that had the Razorback faithful believing in another Elite 8 run back in early February is no longer present and it's taken a toll.

Arkansas fans openly saying they won't be picking the Razorbacks to win in the first round of their brackets is a clear sign they have lost hope in this team's ability to go on a run.

But, then again, the large number of empty seats and low fan turnout in Nashville had already sent that message.