NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Eric Musselman didn’t sound like a coach who needs a break from work after his University of Arkansas men’s basketball team ended a disappointing season with an 80-66 loss to No. 15 South Carolina on Thursday in a second-round SEC Tournament game at Bridgestone Arena.
“I’m probably more motivated right now at this moment than I ever have been,” Musselman said. “I can’t wait to work.”
The work of coaching this season is done for Musselman and his staff. Now their focus will be on recruiting for next season, whether that means adding new players or trying to retain some of this season’s roster.
After going 15-16 in the regular season, Arkansas had no shot at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
The Razorbacks needed to become the first team to win five SEC Tournament games in five days to earn the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
It didn’t happen.
The Razorbacks extended their season by beating Vanderbilt 90-85 in overtime, but they couldn’t stay with South Carolina after a competitive start that saw 13 lead changes and four ties before the Gamecocks took the lead for good on a Josh Gray dunk with 1:13 left in the first half.
South Carolina was ahead 38-35 at halftime and led by as many as 21 points in the second half in improving to 2-0 against the Razorbacks, including a 77-64 victory at Walton Arena on Jan. 20.
It’s the first time the Gamecocks have beaten Arkansas twice in a season since both programs joined the SEC for the 1991-92 season.
The Razorbacks averaged 91.2 points in their previous five games before the Gamecocks held them to less than 67 for the second time this season.
“Just give South Carolina a ton of credit,” Musselman said. “Defensively they were really good.”
Musselman had grown accustomed to taking his teams to the NCAA Tournament and making deep runs.
The last six years the NCAA Tournament was held — excluding 2020 when covid-19 shut down college sports during conference tournaments — it included Musselman’s teams at Nevada and Arkansas.
Nevada advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2018 and after Musselman took the Arkansas job, he led the Razorbacks to Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022 and to the Sweet 16 in 2023.
Musselman’s first Arkansas team in 2020 won its SEC Tournament opener over Vanderbilt and was set to play South Carolina before the cancelation.
Musselman has said he believes the 2020 team, which finished 20-12, was another victory or two in the SEC Tournament away from securing an NCAA Tournament bid.
Musselman’s combined NCAA Tournament record is 10-6, including 8-3 with the Razorbacks.
Arkansas had been 0-10 against No. 1 seeds before Musselman arrived. Now the Razorbacks are 2-10 against No. 1 seeds with victories over Gonzaga in 2022 and Kansas last season.
“I mean, Alabama’s program has one Elite Eight [in 2004] in our entire history,” Alabama Coach Nate Oats said after the No. 19 Crimson Tide beat the Razorbacks 92-88 in overtime March at Coleman Coliseum. “[Musselman] has had two since he’s been at Arkansas, so he knows what he’s doing.”
With South Carolina dropping Arkansas to 16-17, Musselman suffered his first losing record in nine seasons as a college head coach.
The 2023-24 Razorbacks also became his first team that failed to win at least 20 games.
Musselman has a 111-59 record at Arkansas in five seasons. He has a 221-93 record overall in nine seasons.
None of Musselman’s previous eight college teams had ever even been under .500 at any point in the season.
“This is new territory,” Musselman said. “Right now the season ending stings. I have not been in this position. Hopefully the program is not [again].
“Hopefully we’re playing deeper in this tournament, but more importantly hopefully we’re playing in NCAA Tournaments.”
Senior guard Davonte Davis is the lone Razorback who played in the NCAA Tournament in all three of the previous runs. He played a key role in those teams’ success.
As a freshman in 2021, Davis averaged 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in four NCAA Tournament games. He hit the game-winning jump shot with 3.1 seconds left in Arkansas’ 72-70 win over Oral Roberts in the Sweet 16.
Davis helped the Razorbacks return to the Elite Eight in 2022 when he averaged 7.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the tournament.
Last season Davis had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in a 73-63 victory over Illinois in a first-round NCAA Tournament game. He then put up 25 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist when the Razorbacks beat defending national champion and No. 1 seed Kansas 72-71.
“Obviously, we didn’t make it to March Madness, which is what I was used to, and some of our other guys were used to,” Davis said in a subdued Arkansas locker room Thursday. “But you have ups and downs in the college basketball world.
“Hopefully everybody will take this season and look at it and know that it’s harder than what you think to make the NCAA Tournament and advance.”
The Gamecocks, who fell to 26-7 with an 86-55 loss to Auburn on Friday, will be back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 when they made an improbable run to the Final Four under Coach Frank Martin.
“We didn’t guard the paint like you need to against a really good, talented team, a team that’s ranked, a team that’s got a chance to play in Sweet 16s or Elite Eights or Final Fours,” Musselman said of South Carolina scoring 52 paint points, the most allowed by the Razorbacks this season. “That’s how good they are. That’s how connected they are.
“That’s how well-coached they are.”
The motivation that fills Musselman after Arkansas’ quick SEC Tournament exit will be to return the Razorbacks to playing like South Carolina has this season.
Like Musselman’s Nevada and Arkansas teams played in the past.