The University of Arkansas will join Oklahoma as the last two NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams to play a true road game this season.
Arkansas and Oklahoma finally play on an opponent’s home court tonight when the Razorbacks face Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., and the Sooners take on TCU in Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.
For the first time in Eric Musselman’s five seasons, the Razorbacks (9-5, 0-1) will stay on the road for back-to-back conference road games.
After the Georgia game, Arkansas will head directly to Gainesville, Fla., for a Saturday game against Florida.
The Bulldogs are 9-0 at home, including victories over Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, and are 22-4 in Mike White’s two seasons.
Nine Arkansas newcomers will experience an SEC road game for the first time as the Razorbacks try to bounce back from an 83-51 loss to No. 16 Auburn at Walton Arena in Fayetteville last Saturday.
“I think they understand — I hope they understand — the importance of this two-game road trip,” Musselman said. “We know it’s going to be hard to win on the road.
“We know that we’re going to have to play our ‘A’ game on both sides of the ball. This league is too good to not, but this program in the past has done a good job of at some point figuring out things and figuring out the intensity that we need to play with.
“I mean, there’s a lot of former players that have been texting in the last 24 to 48 hours that have said, ‘Hey Coach, been there. Figure it out.’ So that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0) won their SEC opener 75-68 at Missouri. They also won at Florida State 68-66.
“It’s a confident team coming off a huge win, because any time you win on the road is a huge win,” Musselman said. “But that’s what the schedule says. That’s what you go do.”
Musselman said his Arkansas program has been built on competitiveness, toughness and grit.
“Look, the game against Auburn, No. 1, you’ve got to give credit to [Coach] Bruce Pearl, you’ve got to give credit to his team,” Musselman said. “They came in here and they played a great game. And we’ve got to get better from it.
“That’s what you do. You take accountability, from staff to players.”
Auburn’s 32-point victory was the Razorbacks’ largest margin ever in a home loss to a college team.
“I’m sure Coach has got their attention,” White said. “It’s definitely an outlier I would assume moving forward as you evaluate their results for the rest of the season.”
Musselman, 104-47 at Arkansas, led the Razorbacks to NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022 and to the Sweet 16 last season.
“They’re a good team and a good program,” White said. “They’ve had a lot of success in recent years.
“They’ll be ready. They’re really capable, really talented. They sit down and guard and have a bunch of weapons.”
Arkansas sophomore point guard Keyon Menifield said he’s confident the Razorbacks can put the Auburn loss behind them.
“Because I know who we can be when we play together,” Menifield said. “When we get to that point, we’ll be good.
“It’s not good losing by a big margin, but we’ve just got to come back harder and better.”
The Razorbacks shot 31% (18 of 58) against Auburn.
“Our game is funny to where sometimes you just miss shots,” White said. “They’re better than that, but also you have to give Auburn credit.
“It’s one of the best teams in the country playing at a really high level offensively and defensively.”
Auburn has won seven consecutive games, but the Bulldogs can top that.
Georgia has won nine games in a row since losing to Providence 71-64 in the Bahamas on Nov. 19. It matches the Bulldogs’ longest winning streak since the 2010-11 season.
The Bulldogs are led by 6-8 senior guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who is averaging 12.9 points per game; Noah Thomasson, a 6-4 senior transfer from Niagara averaging 12.6 points; and 7-0 senior Russel Tchewa, a transfer from South Florida averaging 6.9 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Arkansas beat Georgia 97-65 last season at Walton Arena.
“I told our team this is a much different team than we played last year,” Musselman said. “They have good length. They went out and added some guys that are really good pieces.
“It’s a team that looks connected. It’s a big-time challenge. Look at their record this year and look at what they’re doing in their own building.
“They’re having a good year right now and I would expect them to continue to play good based on what they’ve done in a sample size that’s now one game into league play.”
Musselman said he doesn’t buy into the theory that being together on the road this week could help the Razorbacks after they were blown out at home.
“I don’t think this team needs to go to Athens and have a meal the night before the game and that’s going to all the sudden miraculously make us better, because we have a meal and people put their phones down and converse,” Musselman said. “I’m not a believer that’s going to all of the sudden make us play better basketball because we ate together and we’re in a hotel.”
Musselman, a former NBA coach, said the Razorbacks will fly to Gainesville immediately after the Georgia game.
“We’re going to get in really, really late, much like an NBA team would at 2 or 3 in the morning,” Musselman said on his radio show. “And get back to work the next day in Gainesville and have a couple days to get ready.”
