Dan Dakich previews Arkansas’ Sweet 16 matchup, identifies key coaching move for Eric Musselman

Dan Dakich identified a key coaching move by Eric Musselman that helped set Arkansas on a path to reach the Sweet 16.

The Razorbacks will meet UConn on Thursday night and Dakich of Outkick discussed the Razorbacks on “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” on WJOX out of Birmingham, Alabama.

“They’ve got pros, and this kid Nick Smith Jr. is a pro,” Dakich said. “I mean he was out, and when you look at what they have, they’re pros, let’s just take Purdue, Greg. Purdue’s pro is a big old slow dude. These dudes are athletic. Ricky Council IV, I don’t know how athletic Ricky Council III, the II and the I were, but Ricky Council IV, that dude can go.”

Dakich added that in the biggest of games, your best players have to show up. For Arkansas, Nick Smith didn’t play well in the win over Kansas, he said. Smith was held scoreless in 16 minutes.

“Musselman, the coach, is not afraid to sit you,” Dakich said. “So he sits this kid, Nick Smith, and you know what happens, you guys know this, everybody else goes, ‘Wait a second here, hold on, I’m going to play with a little more enthusiasm, I’m going to play a little bit harder.’ And that’s really what happened here. This group is talented, they’ve been talented all year.”

Dakich said a key element of the game would be if Arkansas can create “turnovers for touchdowns,” or in other words easy baskets in transition. If UConn can limit those to 5 or less, it will win, but if not, Arkansas will move on, he said.

.@dandakich of @Outkick joined the guys on @MacandCube to break down the amount of talent on the @RazorbackMBB roster & their Sweet 16 matchup against UConn.

Whole interview: https://t.co/kiBJay0vJj pic.twitter.com/TmUPJdYkKB

— WJOX 94.5 FM (@WJOX945) March 23, 2023

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.