FAYETTEVILLE – Forty seasons after CBS made the match between the University of Arkansas and Michigan at Barnhill Arena its first college basketball broadcast, the network is back on the AU campus.
For the first time in seven years, CBS is broadcasting an Arkansas home game on television.
The Arkansas game against No. 12 Missouri at 11 am today will be the first CBS broadcast at Walton Arena since the Razorbacks defeated South Carolina 71-64 on February 19, 2014.
It is Arkansas’s first game on CBS since the 2014-15 season, when the Razorbacks lost in Florida 57-56 and No. 1 Kentucky 84-67.
The parking lot at Barnhill Arena was full of CBS production trucks when Arkansas beat Michigan 83-72 on November 28, 1981, led by Darrell Walker 25 points and Scott Hastings’ 24 points.
CBS chose Arkansas as the location for its first college basketball broadcast after the network negotiated a contract with the NBA that ended NBC’s exclusive rights.
Today, the Walton Arena parking lot is full.
“When you pass Bud Walton now, there are a lot of trucks there, even two days before the game,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said on Thursday. “I just had lunch with the team and one of the youngest asked, ‘What’s up with all the trucks?’
“I said, ‘Yes, this is what happens when you’re on CBS national TV. The ramp looks a little bit different from a normal game.” Http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jan/02/ arkansas-missouri-catches-eye-of-cbs / “
Before the season, a game between Arkansas and Missouri seemed like an odd choice to be made by CBS, considering that Razorbacks and Tigers were chosen to finish sixth and tenth, respectively, at the SEC in a pre-season media poll. Today it seems like a decision inspired by CBS.
Arkansas (9-0, 1-0 SEC) has the best overall record at the conference, and Missouri (6-1, 0-1) is ranked nationally for the first time since the 2013-14 season, after notable victories over the No. 21 Oregon 83-75 in Omaha, Nebraska; at Wichita State 72-62; and on No. 15 Illinois 81-78 at home.
“I know Missouri is a very, very good team,” said Musselman. “I know that they are very, very well trained. I know that they have a tough mind. They believe in their coach and are very experienced, so that makes them very dangerous.”
Musselman and Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin faced off at CBA during the 1996-97 season. Musselman was the coach of the Florida Beachdogs, who played in West Palm Beach. Martin played for Grand Rapids (Mich.) Mackers.
“I have known Coach Martin for a long time,” said Musselman. “He is a tough and competitive guy. His teams take on his personality.”
Missouri suffered its first defeat when No. 7 Tennessee beat the Tigers 73-53 at the Mizzou Arena on Wednesday night, while Arkansas won 97-85 at Auburn.
Vols jumped to a 23-4 lead, forced 21 turnovers and kept Tigers 1 out of 13 three-point shots.
“We don’t play well,” said Martin. “You have to give them credit, just as we gave Bradley credit when we didn’t play well [in a 54-53 Missouri victory].
“But we are certainly a much better team than what we showed. That was shocking to me. But what happens is that when you get into it, you don’t have enough time for the guys to calm down and just play basketball.
“Then you bend down and try to reach it.”
Musselman said he is not reading much about Tennessee’s 20-point win in Missouri.
“They will come here and be ready to play, just as anyone should be ready to play,” said Musselman. “We must be ready because we are going to play against a qualified team.
“I think both teams will be ready to play. That does not mean that you will play well or that the kicks will fall. But I think that from a mental point of view, Missouri will be ready, as will Arkansas.”
Martin said he will know more about his team after today’s game.
“My approach is that I don’t go to a locker room throwing things around and everything,” he said. “What’s the point of this? You approach the situation, you move forward, you recognize it.
“Before doing anything, I always look at myself in the mirror before I start pointing out that you should have done this, that. You find ways to win as a team.”
Missouri returns seven of its eight best scorers on the team from last season that ended 15-16, led by junior guard Xavier Pinson (averaging 13.9 points) and senior guards Mark Smith (12.9) and Dru Smith (12 ,1). Jeremiah Tilmon senior (8.3 points, 7.3 rebounds).
“Everyone is a year older,” said Musselman of Missouri’s improvement this season. “So they had two players [Mark Smith and Tilmon] who were injured most of the year.
“So two really important pieces [healthy] for coach Martin. And they always play hard because that’s what Coach Martin’s teams do. They always make it very difficult for you offensively, because they are a very good defensive team.
Arkansas senior striker Justin Smith, a transfer graduate from Indiana who started all games, is questionable for today’s game because of an injury to his right ankle at Auburn.
Smith, averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds, did not play in the second half against Auburn, but the Razorbacks used their improved depth to get away in the last seven minutes.
Musselman, who generally limited his rotation to seven last season and sometimes six, used 11 players at Auburn.
If Smith is unable to play, the Razorbacks are much better equipped to cope with an absence than they were last season, when they went 0-5 in SEC games that Isaiah Joe lost while recovering from knee surgery.
“I think the depth helped us,” said Musselman. “I think that’s why we’re 9-0 now, the depth and the chemistry.”
Today’s game
ARKANSAS MEN VS. DO NOT. 12 MISSOURI
WHEN 11 am
WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville
Arkansas RECORDS 9-0, 1-0 SEC; Missouri 6-1, 0-1
Arkansas SERIES leads 28-25
CBS TV
RADIO Razorback Sports Network