FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman admittedly does not take losing well.
The Razorbacks' first-year coach said Thursday he wished Arkansas had played the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday following the team's first loss of the season at Western Kentucky last weekend.
Given the way Arkansas performed Saturday against Tulsa in its 98-79 win, Musselman's players didn't seem to mind having a week between games, especially Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe, who combined for 61 points.
"It’s great because, you know, the more time the better," Joe said. "You get a longer time to figure out new sets, work on all the mistakes that you may have made in the last game so that you can capitalize. It gave us a lot of time to go over scouting so we would know every player. Having a week off gives our body enough time to recuperate, get as much treatment as possible.
"And just get a lot of focus, get a lot of shots up and, you know, work on our game for that week. The only thing that we should be doing during that week is getting better, and that’s what we did."
The Razorbacks played with a renewed energy in their ninth win of the season, and Jones poured in a career-high 41 points, bouncing back from a 1-for-9 shooting night against the Hilltoppers. Joe added 20 as well to aide Jones, who was plus-17 in the win.
With fresh legs, Arkansas' star guards came out of the gates hot as Jones knocked down two of his first three shots and Joe connected on 3 of 4 from 3-point range in the opening four minutes, 30 seconds. Desi Sills and Jimmy Whitt also added scores to push the Razorbacks' lead to 21-5 prior to the under-12 media timeout.
Offensively, Arkansas turned in by far its best game of the season. The 98 points are the Razorbacks' most under Musselman and the most by a Musselman-coached team since Nevada won 98-82 at Colorado State on Feb. 6.
Arkansas, too, posted a season-best offensive rating (128.4, according to KenPom), its highest mark since Dec. 5, 2018 - at Colorado State in a game in which it also scored 98 points.
"We talked all week about how are you going to bounce back? We lost a game after winning eight in a row," Musselman said. "How are you going to come out from an effort and energy standpoint? Forget the shots, whether they fall or don’t.
"How tough are you going to play and how much energy are you going to come out with for 40 minutes after a loss? I think that’s really character telling."
The essence of Arkansas' intensity in the win can be summarized by a 29-second sequence late in the second half. Tulsa misfired on a 3-pointer, a Golden Hurricanes player dove on the floor for the loose ball and attempted to pass to a teammate on the perimeter. Adrio Bailey, who finished with eight points, three rebounds, two blocks and two steals, grabbed the ball out of the air and ignited the break.
Bailey passed to Jones in the middle of the floor, then Jones lobbed a pass near the rim to Bailey for a dunk. Tulsa inbounded the ball quickly and raced the other way, but Jalen Harris recorded a chase-down block on Darien Jackson's layup attempt. Jones corralled the loose ball and, while falling out of bounds, tossed it over his head and back into play.
Harris then tipped the pass in the direction of Sills, who drove into the lane and lofted a floater that missed. Harris soared through the air for a potential putback slam, but was whistled for an offensive foul. Musselman, though, didn't seem to mind. He loved the frenetic, high-energy play of his team, as did the crowd of 15,589 in Bud Walton Arena.
"That’s kind of how we have to play," Musselman added. "That is kind of our identity. I think that type of play resonates, especially within your own building, when fans see the players' enthusiasm and energy out there like they had.
"That’s how you get fans excited to come back and see you play, when you play hard like that from an effort and energy standpoint. I think people can feel our team’s got some passion right now. You’ve got to play with passion. Our guys were having fun, too."
Arkansas won the points-off-turnovers battle 23-8 and was plus-19 in fastbreak points in the win. It also committed only eight turnovers, which sparked the team's lowest turnover rate (10.5 percent) of the season.
"It was just a different type of vibe today in the game," said Jones, who followed a single-digit scoring game with 30-plus points for the third time in his Arkansas career. "(Tulsa) called us out. They came to our locker room talking trash, running through it, but, you know, it was just a different type of energy from the jump.
"We wanted to set the tone."