FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks both staged comebacks on Tuesday night in Walton Arena.
Musselman returned to coach the team five days after undergoing shoulder on his left surgery and the Razorbacks rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat South Carolina 75-59.
It was expected Musselman would have to miss at least two games, but he was back after staying home to recover when Arkansas won 65-58 at LSU on Saturday with assistant Keith Smart serving as interim head coach.
“It was good having Coach back, of course,” said sophomore forward Jaylin Williams, who led the Razorbacks with a career-high 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. “Having that great of a mind on the bench with us is always going to be a plus.
“He was at practice, so we knew that he was going to coach the game. Of course, he didn’t have the same energy as normal, but he was still the same old Coach Musselman.”
More from WholeHogSports: Full coverage from Arkansas 75, South Carolina 59
As much as Musselman enjoyed watching the Razorbacks beat LSU and celebrating with the players via FaceTime, he didn’t feel well Saturday.
“Saturday was the worst day I’ve ever had and I just made a decision that being off the pain medication was going to determine how quickly I came back,” he said. “Normally people are on the pain medicine for a week or so. I think that’s how determined missing at least two games. Maybe anywhere from two to six.”
Musselman said he didn’t like how the medication made him feel.
“I didn’t feel like myself,” he said.
South Carolina Coach Frank Martin said it was good to see Musselman coaching the Razorbacks.
“Yeah man, this business is hard,” Martin said. “This business beats you up. This time of year it’s really mentally stressful.
“And when guys are physically beat up, it’s good to see him out there. It’s actually good that he’s got one arm in a harness so he settles down a little bit.”
The Razorbacks (13-5, 3-3 SEC) probably provided Musselman with the best medicine possible when they opened the second half on an 18-1 run to move ahead 51-41 after the Gamecocks (10-7, 1-4) led 40-33 at halftime.
Notae and Williams, who combined to play just 17 minutes in the first half because each picked up two fouls, helped key the rally.
Williams started the second half with a layup, then Notae and Williams had assists on baskets by Au’Diese Toney.
Trey Wade had a three-point play on a rebound basket to give Arkansas the lead for good at 43-41 with 16:09 to play, then Toney had a layup with a Williams assist and Williams scored on an assist from Notae.
Notae capped the run with a driving basket.
“It was super frustrating knowing we both wanted to be out on the court to help our team get this win,” Williams said of he and Notae sitting out so much of the first half. “Going into halftime, me and JD said to each other we have to play smart and play disciplined and make sure we stay out on the court.
“Coming out in the second half, we just had to make sure we didn’t make any dumb fouls.”
After Arkansas went ahead by 10 points, South Carolina didn’t pull closer than five and the Razorbacks were ahead by as many as 17.
Notae finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots.
Toney, a senior forward, had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Senior guard Stanley Umude added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
“We didn’t come out the same way we started the first half and obviously Arkansas came out the way they talked about in the locker room at halftime,” said South Carolina freshman guard Devin Carter, who had 20 points and 6 rebounds, but also 6 of the Gamecocks’ 18 turnovers.
Arkansas outscored South Carolina 45-19 in the second half and held the Gamecocks to 22.2% shooting (6 of 27), including 1 of 10 on three-pointers after they were 6 of 13 in the first half from beyond the arc.
“I thought our second half was phenomenal,” Musselman “Holding them to the shooting percentage that we did … Holding them to 19 points.
“Really, really good defensive discipline in the second half compared to the first half.”
Martin said the Gamecocks’ defense couldn’t slow down the Razorbacks in the second half after being effective in the first half.
“I thought in the first half our zone was pretty good,” Martin said. I thought in the first half our man-to-man was pretty good. I really thought we defended fairly well.
“Then in the second half, whether we went zone or man-to-man, they just said, ‘We’re driving the ball, and I’m coming.’
“They just came out with a sense of like, ‘This is our home court. We’ve got to play better.’
“And to start the second half we just made some deflating plays on both ends that kind of dropped our spirits.”
The Razorbacks’ streak of hitting a three-point basket ended at 1,092 games — they were 0 of 11 — but they outscored the Gamecocks 42-22 on points in the paint and hit 27 of 33 free throws.
“We just wanted to stick to the game plan, which was attack the rim,” Notae said.
Williams said he and forward Kamani Johnson — who missed a second consecutive game because of an ankle injury — were in the training room getting treatment on Sunday when they saw Musselman coming into the practice facility.
“He walked down the hallway and we looked at each other like, ‘Was that Coach Muss?’ ” Williams said. “We were just surprised to see him.
“But knowing Coach Muss is fighting through all that pain and the injury that he has, the surgery he just got, shows how much this team and this program means to him.”
Musselman, who injured his shoulder on Dec. 2 in practice when he got too close on a close-out defensive drill and Wade landed on him, said it’s as painful as ever.
“Like someone’s taken a nail to a certain spot in my shoulder,” he said. “Still a little hard to sleep. But it is what it is, and you just roll with it.”