It may be too little, too late, but Arkansas men’s basketball looks like a team that has finally flipped the switch.
Eric Musselman has narrowed his rotation — although a few pieces are set to return to the fold — and the Razorbacks look more connected and dialed in than they have since the preseason.
Defense has improved, energy has become more consistent, chemistry has seen an uptick and the results have been there to support it.
After a successful week in which Arkansas completed season sweeps of Texas A&M and Missouri, the Hogs are trending in the direction of having things clicking when the SEC Tournament rolls around in just over two weeks.
“We’ve got a good flow going right now. How long it lasts, I don’t know,” Musselman said. “We’re 4-3 in our last seven. To be quite honest with you, we should be 5-2.
“The game at Mississippi State, I’m not going to comment on it, but if you watch the film over and over like I have we should be 5-2. No questions about that.”
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It is clear Musselman would love to have the narrow loss in Starkville back, but the Hogs could really take their pick of any number of frustrating stumbles along the way.
At 14-13 overall and sitting at No. 121 in the NET rankings, the door to an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament is closed and locked at this point.
However, the path Arkansas continues to seek is that of least resistance, meaning whatever it takes to climb the pecking order and avoid a Wednesday tip in Nashville.
The Razorbacks are 5-9 in league play, which is currently good enough for an 11th-place tie with Georgia in the league standings and a game removed from a three-way tie between Ole Miss, Texas A&M and LSU.
Arkansas needs to do enough in its final four games to pass two of those four teams to earn a bye to Thursday action at the SEC Tournament.
Winning four games in four days to earn at automatic-bid to March Madness is a tall task, but it is an easier road to navigate than having an extra game tacked on.
“We’ve got to keep it going,” senior guard Khalif Battle said. “I think the energy in the locker room is a little different right now. It feels like everybody is on one agenda, and it’s to win.
“No matter if it’s one point or 20 points, we just want to get a win, and no win is easy in the SEC.”
It starts with Tuesday’s tilt at Bud Walton Arena against a Vanderbilt team sitting at 7-20 overall and just 2-12 in SEC play.
“We just have to keep rolling and have a really good practice Monday and get ready for Tuesday’s game,” Musselman said. “We are playing better than we have most of the season.”