Two coaching buddies will meet in fabled Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sunday, but only one is going to leave a happy man.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman and Texas Tech coach Chris Beard, the former Arkansas-Little Rock head coach, are friends who stay in touch.
“I like Muss,” Beard said. “We're friends. We exchange calls, a text every once in a while, a lot of respect for what he did at Nevada. We played those guys in Lubbock in a really tough game we were fortunate to win. I have a lot of pride in the state of Arkansas. Little Rock will always be special to me. Got my first Division I opportunity there, and I just love that state. I follow that program.”
Beard has had success as a coach at each of his stops – McMurry (19-10), Angelo State (47-15), Little Rock (30-5, including an NCAA Tournament victory over Purdue in 2016), and now at Texas Tech, where he is 112-54.
“Arkansas is a basketball state with a lot of tradition,” Beard said. “In my mind, it is a basketball school starting with Coach (Eddie) Sutton in my lifetime, Coach (Nolan) Richardson, I think Mike (Anderson) did a great job there, and now Muss is just killing it in Year 2.
“Nobody follows or appreciates basketball more in Arkansas than me.”
No. 10 and 3-seed Arkansas (22-6) and 6-seed Texas Tech (18-10), who played in the national title game two seasons ago, will meet Sunday at 5:10 p.m.
“We will have to play our best 40 (minutes) of the season to win this game,” Beard said.
He sees a lot to like about Musselman teams.
“I think there is an aggressiveness and a swag and a confidence and an enthusiasm,” Beard said. “What I do know about Coach is he is a basketball guy. I don’t think he sits around thinking about what he is going to do after coaching. I don’t think he is probably working on his law degree behind the scenes. Basketball guy, right? Loves it, eats it, drinks it, sleeps it.
“That’s my perspective knowing some NBA people that have played for him or with him.”
Beard expects a hard-fought game with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
“His teams play hard,” Beard said. “Every once in a while you can get a gift in a college basketball season where the other team just doesn’t bring their A-game. It doesn’t happen ever in this tournament. It happens sometimes during the season. That’s not going to happen with this Arkansas team. They are going to play hard, they are going to be aggressive.
“They are going to game plan. There are going to be some things we don’t know, so we have to anticipate the unanticipated. Expect the unexpected. That is what he does, always throws a new wrinkle.”
Arkansas wants to play uptempo while Texas Tech has been a deliberate team most of the season.
“I think one of the benefits of playing in the Big 12 is we are prepared to play different styles,” Beard said. “We were trying to speed up the first game. Arkansas definitely has an aggressive attack, one of the highest scoring teams in college basketball. But we are prepared to play at whatever pace we need to to be successful in the game.
“I think regardless of the pace, the ability to take away their great shots in transition is going to be important. They are going to take shots in transition. It’s the way they play, the way they attack and we have got to make sure they aren’t wide open, A-1 shots on the break.
“Likewise with us, playing in the Big 12, we have the experience of facing different tempos offensively. We have to manufacture enough offense to be successful in this game.”
Beard is impressed with the job Musselman has done in Year 2 with the Razorbacks, and with SEC freshman of the year Moses Moody, who is averaging 17 points per game.
“He's doing a great job, and so a lot of respect for their program,” Beard said. “I've seen them play as a fan this year. I know they've got a lottery pick, I know they've got a couple of other NBA guys. I know they've got an NBA coach that's going to game plan and scheme, so it'll be a real challenge for us, but we've been through a lot of challenges lately.
“When you play 18 Big 12 games and you play, in my opinion, one of the most disciplined teams in the tournament in Game 1, Utah State, it's not going to be an excuse that we haven't been challenged.”
Arkansas has won 14 of its last 15 games.
“They're an outstanding team,” Beard said. “They're worthy of their high seed. They've had a great season. Nothing but respect for Coach and those players. We look forward to the opportunity to play against a great team.”
Texas Tech trailed Utah State by three at halftime in its NCAA Tournament opener, but went on an 18-0 run after intermission and cruised to a 65-53 win.
Beard believes he has a team capable of getting back to the national championship game.
“I just told the guys to play fearless, to play with courage, to let it rip,” Beard said Friday. “We’ve earned the right to be here. We played in the best league in college basketball this year and held our own, and we think we can win six games in this tournament. I think we can play with anybody. The more aggressive we are, the better chance we have.”
Beard likes his team’s mentality entering Sunday.
“They play like a bunch of junkyard dogs,” Smith said on his coach’s show earlier this week. “I think we’re right there," Beard said. “Our season, kind of which way you want to look at, we’ve been right there. With our team, we’re more than close. We’re right here. Close doesn’t matter.
"In this deal, we have to get past that last inch or so. For us, it’s just going to be valuing each possession.”
Arkansas scored 34 points off 22 Colgate turnovers in its 85-68 win on Friday while Texas Tech had 28 points off 22 Utah State miscues.
“Both teams, Texas Tech and Arkansas, have defenses that are based on and built to create offense,” Beard said. “Best way to do that is to make the opponent turn it over, block a shot, get them sped up (and take) bad shots. I think we are similar, two aggressive defenses. We play a little bit different, but I think the objectives are the same on both sides.
“I think the thing that kills you is the live-ball turnovers. If we are going to hand it to Arkansas every once in awhile, we might as well just throw it out of bounds and let them throw it in because if we come down and hand it to them it is not going to work in our favor.”