FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks are so close to being a strong road basketball team that Eric Musselman can practically grasp it.
Though the Razorbacks are just 2-7 in true road games, their recent track record indicates they are rounding into the kind of team that can hang with any opponent anywhere with the postseason looming in just over a week.
The latest data comes from Saturday’s 86-83 loss at No. 2 Alabama, which is battling for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas led by as many as 11 points (35-24), held the lead for 22:03 on the Crimson Tide’s home floor, scored on half of its possessions and averaged 1.064 points per possession against the nation’s No. 5 team in defensive efficiency per KenPom.com.
“They have 17 turnovers, we have 11 turnovers,” Musselman said Saturday while looking at the game box and rattling off some key stats.
“We made five threes and only took 10 attempts, and Alabama took 22 threes and made three. Unfortunate for us, we came up three points shy. We’ve had a lot of close road games that could have gone either way, and we’re some free throws away.”
A lot of close road games is putting it mildly.
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Arkansas (19-10, 8-8 SEC) has held the halftime lead in each of its last seven road games. Saturday’s loss was the fifth for the Hogs, all away from home, on which a made three-pointer at the buzzer would have sent the game into overtime.
And these aren’t the dregs of the SEC Arkansas is going toe to toe with on the road.
The Razorbacks have beaten Kentucky, which is No. 20 in the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, on the road. They have been in position to notch wins at, in order of their NET Rankings: No. 2 Alabama; No. 12 Baylor and No. 26 Texas A&M, among others.
It’s no wonder the Razorbacks’ NET ranking actually improved a spot to No. 14 on Sunday following the near-miss at Alabama. Arkansas is the highest-ranked team with double-digit losses in those rankings.
Crimson Tide Coach Nate Oats was straightforward in his praise for the Razorbacks at several points in his postgame remarks.
“Give Arkansas a ton of credit,” Oats said. “They’re a talented team. [Razorbacks freshman guard] Nick Smith is obviously really talented. They never quit on it. They got down. They hung in there. They gave themselves a chance there in the last 30 seconds.”
Oats was also asked about winning despite shooting 3 of 22 from three-point range, the Tide’s bread and butter offensive blueprint.
“It gives us some confidence, because Arkansas is playing very well,” he said. “They’re playing their best basketball of the year. Outside of [Trevon] Brazile being out, they’ve got their full squad that they’re going to have the rest of the year. They’ve won some big games.”
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Smith, in his fifth game back after missing the previous 13 because of a right knee management issue, led the Razorbacks with 24 points at Alabama after scoring 26 against Georgia on Tuesday night.
“They came in here with Nick, with everybody,” Oats said. “They shot 50 percent from three. … They’re a tough team.
“But we don’t have to just win one way. For everybody that thinks every time we shoot the ball poorly from three we lose, we just shot 13 percent from three and won the game against a really good team.”
The Razorbacks have one more prime opportunity to get over the hump against a tough road opponent when they travel to No. 11 Tennessee on Tuesday. The Volunteers, who lead the country in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings, are No. 3 in the NET rankings.
In a 78-74 loss to the Volunteers last year in Knoxville, Tenn., the Razorbacks rallied from a 24-point first half deficit — as well as a 67-49 deficit with less than 8 minutes left — to draw within 74-72 with 56 seconds remaining.
Smith, clearly frustrated with Saturday’s lost opportunity against Alabama, said the Razorbacks will not be lacking in belief.
“It’s not confidence,” Smith said. “It’s just the ability to not let the [other] team take over. We had the first half. Second half, if it was 0-0, we would have lost by 20.”