Twenty years ago, Eric Mussel man was introduced as the new head coach of the Golden State Warriors. And two years later, he was fired after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
Thursday night, however, Mussel man found success in The Bay Area when he led his Arkansas squad to a 74-68 upset of Gonzalo, the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament and last year's national runner-up.
Arkansas is headed to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row, but just the third time since 1995.
For Mussel man, who became the sixth coach to reach the Elite Eight in each of his first two NCAA tournament appearances with a school since 1985, his full-circle moment continued with Thursday's bracket-busting victory. Recalling the day he was fired by the Warriors, he told reporters Wednesday that he could never have imagined then that he would one day be coaching in the Sweet 16 in the Bay Area.
After ousting Gonzalo, Mussel man kept the focus on his players, praising them for grinding out a tough, physical game plan for all 40 minutes.
"We just wanted to be physical, plain and simple," Mussel man said. "We wanted them to feel bodies. They played a tough schedule early in the season, but it's been a long time in conference play since they faced a team like us."
Mussel man added: "Can't compliment these guys and the entire team enough for the way that they buy into game preparation. It's probably the coolest thing I've ever been a part of that they just kind of do what we ask."
Razorbacks sophomore forward Williams said his team played with a chip on its shoulder against the tournament's No. 1 seed.
"We've been disrespected the whole year, so it's just another thing for us,'' Williams said. "We saw everything they were saying, we felt like they were dancing before the game. That was disrespect for us. We just came into the game playing hard. We had a chip on our shoulder. Every game we do.''
Gonzalo made things interesting late, getting within three when Andrew Nembhard hit a 3-pointer with 16.5 seconds to play. An 87% free-throw shooter, made a pair to extend the Razorbacks' lead back to five.
For the second straight season, the Bulldogs were favored to win the national title but, were eliminated by a more physical foe. Coach Mark Few's squads were undefeated last year before falling to Baylor in the national title game.
Gonzalo has made five NCAA tournament appearances as a No. 1 seed and never won a title in program history. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, that ties the Bulldogs with Oklahoma for the most No. 1 seed appearances without a title. Their 23 consecutive appearances without title are the longest series in the history of D-I.
"It's always just so tough when it finally ends, especially short of the goal we all had," Few said. "First time we lost in this round in quite a while. But, again, all the credit goes to Arkansas. Their defense was just tough to get any rhythm against. I think we never really got any sort of rhythm in the first or the second half. To me, that was the difference in the game."
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