Eric Musselman went full JR Smith after Arkansas punched their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday.
The No. 8 seed Razorbacks scored a massive upset in the Round of 32, taking down the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks (last year’s NCAA Tournament champions) in a 72-71 thriller. Arkansas got seven points in the final minute from junior transfer Ricky Council IV (including five clutch free throws) and held on for the big victory.
NO. 8 ARKANSAS STUNS NO. 1 KANSAS 😱
Razorbacks are heading to the Sweet Sixteen! https://t.co/11KJwsOeH1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 18, 2023
After the final buzzer, Musselman, the Arkansas head coach, celebrated with his team’s fans by jumping up on the scorer’s table and taking off his shirt like a scene from WWE.
Eric Musselman showing off his… MUSCLES @RazorbackMBB pic.twitter.com/P2D7yYioOF
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 18, 2023
The 58-year-old Musselman did put his shirt on again though for his postgame interview on CBS with Allie LaForce.
“I keep telling people that we’re getting better. Not many teams can get better at this time of year. I’ve never been prouder in a team like tonight.”@RazorbackMBB Head Coach Eric Musselman and G Davonte Davis joined @ALaForce after taking down Kansas. pic.twitter.com/Uc6bFI3V0V
— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 18, 2023
Arkansas is now in the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year. Though they were only 20-13 in the regular season (ninth in their conference) and failed to get past the quarterfinal of the SEC Tournament, the Razorbacks are certainly peaking at the right time.
As for Musselman himself, we already knew that he had plenty of swagger. But Saturday’s upset victory allowed him to transform into (dare we say it) … Eric Muscleman.
