SAN FRANCISCO – Pressure.
You either take it at an important moment, or it will slowly suffocate you.
There are many ways to reduce pressure in sports. In the case of Sweet 16 West Regional, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman came up with a magic elixir: combine business with pleasure.
As a result, Arkansas defeated overall No. 1 Gonzaga 74-68 at the Chase Center to earn a place in the Elite Eight for the third year in a row. Arkansas will play the winner of Thursday’s late game between Duke and Texas Tech on Saturday for a place in the Final Four.
The West Regional in San Francisco wasn’t Arkansas’ home game, but the Razorbacks felt right at home.
Specifically, Musselman, a 57-year-old football player who coached the Golden State Warriors from 2002 to 2004 and the Sacramento Kings from 2006 to 2007 and has close ties to the Bay Area. He took the Sweet 16 trip like few coaches in this intense tournament.
On a team flight to San Francisco, he handed out baseball caps from every local professional team—the Giants, Athletics, 49ers, and Warriors—to his players. On Wednesday, between practice and press duties, he took the players on a tour of the city on one of the famous cable cars.
When the Razorbacks were in Buffalo last week for the first two rounds, Musselman gave his players a taste of Buffalo by taking them to Niagara Falls and the Bills facility.
“I think it’s good for us to be able to do things like that,” he said.
Eric Musselman celebrates Arkansas’ Elite Eight victory with Jaylin Williams. Getty Images
It seemed like a big game changer for Arkansas. The Razorbacks (28-8) were a looser team, while Gonzaga looked like a team that knew they had to win (Zags were 9¹/₂ favorites) and got tighter when shots missed.
Gonzaga (28-4) entered the game leading the nation in both scoring (87.8 points per game) and field goal percentage (52.6%) this season. He scored 19 points less than Thursday’s average and scored 37.5 percent.
Arkansas messed up the game beautifully, never letting the Zags find the rhythm.
“We felt like they were dancing before the game,” said Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams, who scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. “It was disrespectful to us.”
Guard JD Notae led Arkansas with 21 points on 9 of 29 shots, including 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
“He fired only 29 shots?” Musselman said with a smile. “He could have missed 10 more shots and I probably would have called his number anyway, because I believed that the next one would hit the target. His teammates too.”
JD Notae finished with a team-record 21 points. AP
Musselman, the son of former NBA and CBA (Albany Patroons) coach Bill Musselman, sounds like a hell of a funny coach.
He said his approach to these games this March — a fun diversion from those cultural trips — was born from a learning experience he had in 2019 when he coached Nevada at the Sweet 16 and felt like he was pushing his players too hard. .
“I regret this,” he said. “We didn’t celebrate victories. I wish we had more fun. I would like us to take part in [NCAA] Tournament. One of the saddest years of my life.”
Neither this night nor this week did Musselman or his players have any regrets.
“This is what we came here for,” Notae said. “The coach said before we took off from Fayetteville, ‘If we don’t want to win, then don’t get on the plane.’ I feel like we’ve brought it all the time we’ve been here.”
Trey Wade, who scored 15 points, resigned himself to the fact that he is an underdog.
“Use it to your advantage,” he said. “They will never see you coming. We just went out and played balls against the wall and we did it.”
Gonzaga felt it.
Chet Holmgren goes to the bench after a foul. AP
One of the key moments of the game came with 3:29 left when Gonzaga’s big man Chet Holmgren fouled for 11 points and 14 rebounds.
“This is one of the fastest teams I’ve ever seen,” Musselman said. “Even this morning we were still working on our transitional defense. We wanted to deprive them of long passes.”
Done and done.
As the game ended, Musselman headed to the stands to hug his mother, Chris, who was watching her son coach the Razorbacks for the first time. She flew in from her home in San Diego on Wednesday.
“I went over and hugged her,” Musselman said. “She gave me an Ohio horse chestnut that my father kept. She gave it to me before the game, so I’m sure she’s going to give herself credit for this lucky chestnut she’s kept for 60 years or so.”
A fun week for Arkansas continues. No pressure.