How to Put Together the Perfect Upset This Holiday Season

Hofstra mixes together perfect ingredients needed to knock off Hogs in North Little Rock

Looking for the perfect upset recipe to impress your friends over the holidays this year? Well have we got a treat for you that is guaranteed to achieve the results you’re looking for each time.

1. 3 tablespoons of zone defense against a team that shoots poorly from the perimeter
2. 8 oz. of backdoor cut when you notice a team struggles to make the adjustment
3. Add in at least a 33% solution of 3-point shooting (TIP: If you find you’re a little light on 3-point shooting, just throw in a dash of aggressive rebounding to balance out the mixture)

Now if you’re really wanting to amp up the frustration and guarantee everyone is going to notice your upset at this year’s holiday party, you can use the following suggestions from a pro to really kick it up a notch.

1. Get yourself a coach who used to play for the favored team’s coach. His knowledge of the tendencies of his former coach will give you that nice red-faced glow on the sideline normally reserved for special occasions when referees refuse to call fouls.
2. If you’re really looking to just show off, throw in a player who not only used to play for the opposing coach, but who rarely got off the bench. He’ll dominate in such a manner that your guests will think they’re watching a script straight out of a direct to Disney Plus sports movie.
3. Mix is a capacity crowd full of people who almost never get to watch a Razorback game in person, shut off all ability to view the game on television, and watch people absolutely lose their minds as they can only imagine how bad the upset really was.

If you listened to the game tonight, then you know Hofstra followed this recipe to perfection to come away with an 89-81 win over the Razorbacks in front of a capacity crowd in North Little Rock that, for the second game in a row, never felt that close.

The Hogs made a late run to get within a bucket, but former Razorback Ayobami “Bebe” Iyiola was determined to make sure Eric Musselman would regret playing him for a single minute in one game during his time as a Hog.

Iyiola dropped a double-double on his former team with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while teammate Aaron Estrada threw in an extra double-double for good measure with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton, who played for Musselman during his time with the Golden State Warriors, had a solution at every turn as the Pride lead nearly the entire game.

Guard Chris Lykes hit a three to make it 13-10 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half, and that was it. The Hogs never led again.

J.D. Notae, who paced the Razorbacks with 20 points, got hot from beyond the arc in the second half to join Lykes in going 4-of-9 from behind the arc, but Arkansas’s rare inability to control the paint caused problems.

A free throw by Davonte Davis with five minutes remaining capped a furious charge that cut the lead to two at 66-64, but four consecutive lay-ups by four different Hofstra players quickly built the lead back up to double digits.

Musselman pointed to what he described as a horrendous practice on Thursday immediately after the loss as a sign that things weren’t going to work out for the home team.

Just one extra ingredient in what was the perfect recipe for the upset that came to be.