HawgBeat - Eric Musselman almost had to ruin Christmas
Eric Musselman would've ruined everyone's Christmas had Arkansas not pulled off the victory against Abilene Christian
arkansas.rivals.com
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Arkansas practice facility, not a basketball bounced in all of its splendor. Practice jerseys were clean and ready to wear, knowing that Coach Muss and the team would soon be there. The players were on campus over the holiday with fear and dread, while they saw visions of bricks above their heads.
This was almost reality for the Arkansas basketball team and coaches, as the Hogs trailed Abilene Christian 35-28 at halftime on Thursday evening in Fayetteville. Head coach Eric Musselman was visibly disappointed with the first half performance during the game and in his postgame press conference.
“Stunk, stunk and stunk some more,” Musselman said of the first half performance.
The Razorbacks had five assists to 12 turnovers in the first half, while shooting just 37.5% from the field. While Arkansas eventually took the lead in the second half and won by double digits, Musselman nearly dawned a Scrooge persona and made the players and staff work through Christmas.
“I would not be going to San Diego if we would have lost tonight, I can tell you that,” Musselman said. “I would not have had a break. Mine would have been mandatory, in the office, and I would’ve ruined everybody’s Christmas. We could have met all the next five days, the coaches.”
Fortunately for the Razorback staff and players, that outcome did not happen. The buzzer sounded with Arkansas the victor, and what happened then? Well, in Fayetteville they say that Muss's heart grew three sizes that day.
“It would have been hell if we would have lost,” forward Chandler Lawson said. “I know that. I’m just glad we got the victory. We can rest or whatever we’ve got to do. We’ve got a couple of more big games coming up to get ready for SEC play. But like we’ve just got to look in the mirror and we’ve just got to be ready coming up soon. We’ve got some big games.”
Lawson finished just short of a double-double, as he racked up nine points and 10 rebounds. He wasn't the only one thankful for the victory.
“It would have been a bad break,” guard Keyon Menifield said. “If we’d have lost this game, coming back for practice would have been oof, I dunno. I don’t know what practice would have been like.”
The Razorbacks (8-4) will conclude their non-conference portion of the season on Saturday, Dec. 30th against UNC Wilmington (9-2) from Bud Walton Arena at 4:00 p.m. CST.
