Former Hog urges fans to ‘have faith’ | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman reacts, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, during the first half against the Auburn Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery..(NW Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Sunday was an off day for the University of Arkansas basketball players, but by 6:30 a.m. many members of the coaching staff arrived at work.

A long Sunday in the office came a day after the Razorbacks had a long Saturday afternoon at Walton Arena, where they lost to Auburn 83-51 in the SEC opener.

Auburn (12-2, 1-0) was ranked No. 25 in The Associated Press poll and rose to No. 16 on Monday after handing Arkansas its worst home loss to a college team.

The only visiting team to win at Arkansas by more than Auburn's 32-point margin, according to Hogstats.com, was the Phillips 66ers, an AAU powerhouse from Bartlesville, Okla., that beat the Razorbacks 74-39 during the 1951-52 season.

"We're going to keep going," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "We're not going to just do the same thing over and over. We're not going to stop tinkering and trying to get better."

Musselman said he's received numerous text messages of support from former Arkansas players -- some who he coached, some he didn't -- in the wake of the Auburn loss.

"We've got guys all over the world watching us," Musselman said. "We've got guys playing NBA games and then texting after a game.

"People are following the scores from overseas. Guys are in the G League and they are texting.

"I didn't just get one or two text messages. There were a lot of former players that I never coached that played here that are texting.

"It means a lot to me and I hope it means at least a little something to the guys on the roster to know that [former Razorbacks] built something and take pride in what they built."

Musselman said he also has heard from many coaches, some of whom he previously worked with, such as David Patrick, who is now the head coach at Sacramento State.

Patrick was an Arkansas assistant with Musselman during the 2020-21 season and they were assistants together at LSU during the 2014-15 season.

"My message to Muss was, 'You've been through this before. You know what your culture is and you know how to win, and don't bend on what your beliefs are,' " Patrick said. "Obviously Muss is a proven winner at the collegiate level."

Musselman has a 214-81 record as a college coach, including 104-45 at Arkansas. He has led Nevada and Arkansas to the NCAA Tournament the previous six times it was held, including a Sweet 16 appearance with the Wolf Pack in 2018 and two Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022 and one Sweet 16 in 2023 with the Razorbacks.

That Arkansas team in 2021 finished 25-7, including 13-5 in the SEC."Auburn was the first game in the SEC, right?" Patrick said. "So you have a bunch of those guys that haven't played in the SEC."Arkansas has nine newcomers -- seven transfers and two freshmen -- experiencing SEC play for the first time this season."The light will turn on for them at the right time," Patrick said. "We can't say if it's going to be game one or game two. It could be this week, it could be another week."But Muss is going to stick to what he's true to -- which is continuing to coach hard, not bending in what he believes in -- and he's got a unique way of adjusting defensively and offensively to his team."As much as he's getting to know the players, they're still getting to know him too."Musselman said that for his first time as a college coach, the scout team in Monday's practice included five eligible scholarship players."We've always used managers or graduate assistants," Musselman said. "But today [the starters] had to guard five scholarship players. That's a different look. We'll see what happens."Musselman said the Razorbacks practiced well on Monday when he spoke with media members."I try to shoot straight with you guys on everything and try to not have any gray area and to let you know exactly how I feel," Musselman said. "This team continues to practice really well. Today it was a great practice and the game on Saturday was a really poor performance."If [practice] was bad I would be the first to tell you guys that it was bad. Matter of fact, sometimes I wish I could get on here and tell you guys we did have some bad practices, because really practice doesn't matter."What matters is the game. That's what coaching staffs are paid for. That's what players want to do, is they want to play in the game."And we've got to carry over from the practice floor to a game."The Razorbacks (9-5, 0-1 SEC) have their next two games on the road at Georgia (11-2, 1-0) on Wednesday night and at Florida (10-4, 0-1) on Saturday."I don't think any struggling team coming off a game like [Auburn] wants to go on a two-game road trip in SEC play," Musselman said. "But that's what the schedule says and that's what we're going to go do."Patrick said he has no doubt the Razorbacks will get this season turned around as has been the case with Musselman in his time at Arkansas."I would tell people to have faith in Muss and his staff that they will get their message across to the players and get them more connected," Patrick said. "But you can't say when a team is going to connect. There's no magic wand for that."I think the fans there should be patient and have trust in the success that Muss has had in the past and know that it'll come."Whether it's week one or week two, whenever it is, he'll figure out the right guys that play well together and roll with it."

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