About the only thing negative anyone ever said about Mike Anderson was that he didn't get onto the officials.
Those days are long gone.
Anderson is off to a good start with St. John's, but Eric Musselman is introducing his coaching style to some of the greatest fans in college basketball.
Musselman is as active and vocal of a coach as the University of Arkansas has ever had.
He doesn't do it to become a sideshow. He does it because he coaches every second of every game.
Offense and defense. Timeouts. You name it, and he's doing everything in his power to make his team better.
It isn't a great team, but don't tell the Razorbacks that.
These Hogs are gritty, tough and doing everything they can to make up for a lack of size. They bounce as high as they can and tip balls to keep them alive in hopes another Hog is on the way to help.
Musselman squeezes everything he can out of his team, and he doesn't do it gently. They play the way he coaches -- all out.
Against a gutsy Valparaiso team at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock on Saturday night, it was needed.
The Crusaders go on the road to play teams such as Arkansas because they don't have the budget for new uniforms every year, but they deserve them. They made it a street fight and exchanged blows with the Razorbacks in the second half like they belonged in the SEC.
It was their best strategy, and the Crusaders answered every threat the Razorbacks could muster to lead 59-51 with 7:23 to play. They had taken 18 more shots than the Hogs at the time.
But Isaiah Joe hit his fourth three-pointer to make it 59-54. Jimmy Whitt drove in for two, and Reggie Chaney hit two free throws to cut it to 59-58.
The Crusaders answered with a back-door basket and two free throws for a 63-58 lead, but Joe made three free throws. Adrio Bailey then made one of two free throws with 3:28 to play, but the Crusaders answered to make it 65-62 with 2:48 to play.
A Joe steal led to a three-pointer by Mason Jones to tie the game at 65-65 with 1:21 to go.
After a Whitt steal, Jones buried another three.
Bailey got a block and Joe added two free throws, but the Crusaders answered with a three. Jones made two more free throws for a 72-68 lead. The Razorbacks made 10 of their last 11 free throws.
Arkansas dropped an iron curtain on the Crusaders, got the ball with 5.6 seconds left, and the Razorbacks escaped.
It was a wild and crazy game, and anyone who was there for the first four minutes would have bet their life savings that Valparaiso would not be close at the half.
But the visitors led 34-32 because the Razorbacks went colder than a Wyoming winter after racing to a 12-3 lead and threatening to blow out the Crusaders.
And the crowd was threatening to blow the roof off Simmons Bank Arena. The crowd came to see the all-new version of Razorback mania, and the spectators did not leave disappointed.
A lot of credit goes to the way Valpo kept its composure to claw and scratch its way back from a 13-point deficit -- 18-5 with 12:52 to play in the first half. A 7-0 run contributed to the comeback when the Razorbacks missed inside and out.
Both teams had a little problem with the officials. When they weren't bad, they were inconsistent. It was brought to their attention early and often by Musselman, who finally got called for a technical foul with 1:02 to play in the first half.
He didn't let up, and neither did his team.
Sports on 12/22/2019