By: Scottie Bordelon
Published: Sunday 14 March 2021
FAYETTEVILLE – It’s official: Arkansas is going to dance.
Watching the Indianapolis Motor Speedway selection show, the Razorbacks were selected as the 3rd seed in the Southern Region at the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and faced Colgate with 14 heads. The game will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday at 11:45 am on TruTV Central.
It is the highest seed in the program since Arkansas was the second seed in 1995.
“I think everyone is very excited,” said Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman. “I have participated in many of them, and each of them feels the same way when you see your name up there.
“I said (to the team) before the show started that, No. 1, what an honor it was to know that we were playing in this tournament. You never, ever, ever as a player, as a coach, as an administrator, as a driver, as a former player , a former student, as a fan, you can never be certain how difficult it is to enter this tournament. It is very difficult. ”
Colgate, which won the Patriot League Tournament championship on Sunday, is 14-1 overall. The Raiders played only in conference and started their season on January 2nd. His only defeat came on January 3 against the army.
Led by coach Matt Langel in its tenth year, Colgate won 13 consecutive games. It is led 6-0 by point guard Jordan Burns, who averages 17.1 points per game. Five other Raiders players contribute more than eight points per game.
Colgate (14-1) made 40% of their trios this season, which is in third place nationally, and kept opponents with 26.1% of pitches beyond the arc. This is the best brand in the country.
“We have to do some exercises to defend the three, we have to keep their guards in front of us,” said Musselman. “We cannot let them get to the hole. They are an analysis team. They make three, they make layups, so we are looking forward to the preparation in the coming days.”
Arkansas is at the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Musselman, who will make his fourth tournament appearance in the past five seasons. He took Nevada to three consecutive tournaments and advanced to Sweet 16 in 2018.
Arkansas (22-6) won 12 of 13 games before losing to LSU in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
The Razorbacks started the league game 2-4, including defeats to LSU and Alabama, before winning 12 consecutive games against the conference competition.
Arkansas’s only non-conference loss occurred in the state of Oklahoma on January 30 in the Big 12 / SEC Challenge. The Cowboys lost to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament championship game on Saturday.
The Arkansas non-league schedule, which many considered weak before the season, featured three teams that won the conference tournament – Oral Roberts (Summit League), Abilene Christian (Southland) and North Texas (Conference USA). The Razorbacks defeated all three teams, including Abilene Christian on December 22 at the Bud Walton Arena with Musselman out due to covid-19 protocols.
Alabama won the SEC tournament title on Sunday, giving Arkansas four wins over teams that won automatic bids.