Commentary: Eric Musselman’s masterful defensive plan helped Arkansas stymie high-octane Gonzaga

SAN FRANCISCO – Back in northern California, back in the region where his NBA coaching career died twice, Eric Musselman doubled over while waiting to give a postgame interview. He gasped and gasped, and it figured the man would be desperate for air. With all the running and jumping and flexing and screaming he did, Musselman, the Arkansas men’s basketball coach, might not breathe the same for the rest of this NCAA Tournament.

Then again, we should be used to seeing Musselman’s joy overflowing by now. Appreciating such moments – something he may have taken for granted when he was a rising young coach – has defined his seven seasons as a college basketball head coach, first at Nevada and now with the Razorbacks. But for all the success he has had since he was forced to pivot from the pros, Thursday night was the finest accomplishment of his reinvention.

With its own brand of gritty ball, Arkansas took apart Gonzaga, the No. 1 overall seed, during a West Region semifinal at Chase Center. In a 74-68 victory, the Razorbacks took the concept of will over skill to a new level, overcoming their offensive shortcomings and sticking to a masterful defensive game plan against the nation’s most explosive offense.

Their point guard, JD Notae, took 29 shots and made just nine . They were 7 for 25 on 3-pointers in a contest in which perimeter shooting was considered a must because of Gonzaga’s superior size. They won it the hard way, the defensive way, dismantling the highest-scoring team in the nation.

“Defensively,” Musselman said, “we played so good.”

One possession at a time, Arkansas was able to slow Gonzaga’s fast-paced style. The Razorbacks harassed Bulldogs point guard Andrew Nembhard, who finished 2 for 11 from the field and committed five turnovers. By pressuring Nembhard and the rest of the Gonzaga guards, they limited the effectiveness of All-American big man Drew Timme, who still scored 25 points but didn’t do so with his usual efficiency and rhythm.

For the game, Gonzaga shot 37.5% and made only 5 of 21 3-pointers. Chet Holmgren, the possible No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, fouled out after scoring 11 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

“Their defense was tough to just get into any rhythm against,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “To me, that was the difference in the game.”

What made this Gonzaga team so formidable is that it featured extraordinary size without sacrificing the trademark pace it’s known for, a combination that most opponents lack the depth, skill and conditioning to handle. During their run of seven straight Sweet 16 appearances, the Bulldogs have become more athletic, recruited more NBA talent and sped up the game to a dizzying level. It’s jarring to play that way – or to try to slow them down – when they have a traditional lineup. But this version was supersized, with Timme as the offense’s focal point at 6-foot-10 and Holmgren standing at 7 feet and anchoring the defense. Both are skilled and agile, good passers and versatile scorers from all over the court.

For Gonzaga, being big doesn’t mean playing slower. And if you can get the Bulldogs into more of a half-court game, you must contend with Holmgren’s rim-protecting genius. So it had long been assumed that, to win a matchup against Gonzaga in the tournament, a team would need stellar perimeter shooting.

Arkansas kept bricking. It didn’t matter, though, because it kept playing defense. Musselman’s team slowed Gonzaga by identifying its knack for long outlet passes and taking away most of those opportunities. Then, in more of a half-court game, the Razorbacks’ guards were physical, reminiscent of the way Baylor knocked off Gonzaga in last year’s title game.

This Gonzaga team was different from last season’s juggernaut, which was unbeatable until the finale. More opponents could play with these Bulldogs for longer stretches. They still had a roster of enviable talent, but they were neither as overpowering nor as complete. It didn’t stop them from dominating for most of the season, but a game like this was always possible.

There were signs throughout the tournament. In its first-round game, Gonzaga struggled early with Georgia State and led by just two points at halftime. The Bulldogs outscored Georgia State 58-39 after halftime and won 93-72. In the round of 32, Gonzaga trailed Memphis 41-31. The Bulldogs won the second half 51-37 and took the game 82-78.

A year ago, a team had to be almost flawless to beat Gonzaga. This year, the chance to outlast the Bulldogs was there. And if it was going to come down to that kind of grit, Musselman was just the coach to bring it out of his team.

From the start, Arkansas looked up to the challenge. And over 40 minutes, the Razorbacks held up every time the Bulldogs made a push.

“It’s one of the fastest-paced teams that I’ve ever seen with the push of the ball, but even this morning, we were still working on our transition defense,” Musselman said. “We wanted to take away their long outlet passes. That was something that we picked up on film when Nembhard would get a head of steam and Au’Diese (Toney) met him really, really early in the backcourt, and I thought that really helped, and they did a great job of their pitch-ahead sideline and break. We took that away. We grinded in our prep.”

For Gonzaga, it was another dominant season that ended short of a championship. Since 2013, the Bulldogs have been a No. 1 seed five times, four coming in the past five NCAA Tournaments. But they have been able to get to the title game only twice, and they lost both times.

Few again was left to consider the entire phenomenon of what Gonzaga has built while expressing his disappointment that this wasn’t the year of the ultimate breakthrough.

When asked for an adjective to describe this season, he offered: “Spectacular. Again, I think sometimes the outside people that aren’t in our program always label it with the, ‘Hey, national championship or bust.’ … Obviously, we wanted to take this thing all the way to the end and win it, but we understand just how hard that is.”

In his career, Musselman has endured setbacks that were much tougher to digest. But the hard times are over, it seems. For the second straight season, he has led Arkansas to the Elite Eight. As he approached the interview room, he could be heard screaming: “Hey! Hey! HEY! We won!”

It wasn’t clear whom he was talking to at that moment. It didn’t matter. The entire basketball world hears him now.