Eric Musselman addresses win in Game 1 of European Tour, his technical foul

On3 imageby:Nikki Chavanelle08/10/22

NikkiChavanelle

The Arkansas Razorbacks dominated game one of their foreign tour versus Valencia Seleccion in Spain on Tuesday. The final score of 108-59 reflected the lop-sided talent, but overall, the game still provided the team with a list of improvements to make as their Euro tour continues.

Head coach Eric Musselman addressed the media after the win on Tuesday.

“I was happy with a lot of things,” Musselman said. “It also gives us a really good barometer, too, of things we have to work on. I thought we were really, really undisciplined defensively. We’ve got to become much more solid defensively.

“But I’m happy with the fact that I thought we played really, really, really, really, really hard, so happy with that, for sure.”

In the second quarter, near the end of the first half, Musselman received a technical foul from the referees. The Hogs committed a slew of fouls on the defensive end of the court, resulting in some choice words from the former Nevada skipper. One reporter asked Musselman whether he was cursing in English or in Spanish.

“I got it off in English, ended up in Spanish,” Musselman joked.

The Arkansas team travels to Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday morning. They’ll play Barcelona Todo-Estrella on Aug. 11.

Nick Smith leads Hogs despite finger injury

Arkansas freshman Nick Smith Jr. led the Razorbacks in scoring with 21 points, including three three-pointers. He pulled off the performance despite dealing with a finger injury. His availability was up in the air for the game since he didn’t participate in practice much in the week leading up to game one.

“The finger was good. I had a lot of concerns,” Smith said. “Our trainer Matt (Townsend) had a lot of concerns about what I did to it (last) Monday. It’s part of the game. Just had to sit out for practice.

“I feel like we played good today. I feel like we didn’t play very disciplined today on the defensive end, but it was the first game of the season.”

Behind Smith, four more Hogs scored in double-digits. Trevon Brazile, who was 5-of-5 from the field, and Kamani Johnson both scored 12 points. Ricky Council IV added 11 points and Barry Dunning Jr., had 10.