Hogs Willing to Fight Through Injury for Their Teammates

Three key players hobbled against Kentucky, but chose to stick it out for key win

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Eric Musselman's basketball team appears to be in great mental shape after shaking off any barriers that were keeping the Razorbacks from winning on the road, but the Hogs have really had to tough it out the last couple of games on the physical side of things.

The 88-73 win over Kentucky Tuesday night was quite physical in terms of the Razorbacks banging up their bodies and also creating a lot of wear on their joints with numerous high speed cuts.

As freshman guard Anthony Black hobbled his way through the closing minutes of the game, it was clear the trainer's room would be busy on Wednesday. Even his sparkling black tennis shoes couldn't hold up to what was happening on the court at Rupp Arena.

"These guys playing through injury," Musselman said in appreciation of what his players had just done. "Makhel [Mitchell] continues to get rehab every day on his ankle. Ricky's [Council] back got tight again tonight. During a couple of huddles he had to stand up because sitting down, it got tight. Then obviously, Anthony, blew his shoe out at one time, he's got three or four things that are kind of bothering him. 

Had those three not toughed it out, Arkansas would have had 54 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and five blocks sitting on the bench. There are several high quality players hoping to get into the game, but it's doubtful that level of output could have been replaced, especially in an environment like Rupp Arena.

"I just really respect these guys for playing through and giving it up for the team because there's three guys who are not fully healthy, I can tell you that," Musselman said. "We will have to manage [injuries] in practice as well."

It took two months for Arkansas to fully rebound from losing sophomore forward Trevon Brazile, but it appears the Razorbacks have finally figured it out. 

"We're not the same team we were in Hawaii," Musselman said. "We're not the same team as we were when we played at Oklahoma. Just based on personnel and availability of players, there's not many teams in the country that could play with these type of injuries that we've dealt with and the quality of the players that have not been able to participate with us. It's been a resilient group." 

Despite the physical struggles, team confidence has grown and Musselman has definitely noticed. 

"Our locker room is feeling good," Musselman said. "I thought the confidence level today at shoot around was probably at a season high. When we had our film sessions I thought we had great confidence."

According to Musselman, that mental boost and the ability to block out the pain late in key moments provided the turning point for a much needed win on the road.

"I thought the game kind of ended when we milked the shot clock," Musselman said. "Devo made a shot with one second to go on a dribble drive and Makhel hit that midrange shot when the shot clock went off. We did a good job of burning basically a minute off the clock and scored four points right as the shot clock ended."

The Razorbacks get 90 hours to tend to injuries before a dangerous Mississippi State team comes calling for what is expected to be another snowy weekend in Fayetteville. The game tips off at 5 p.m. on ESPNU and fuboTV.

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