His team got off to an 8-0 start heading into December, the school's best start to a season since the 1997-98 season. The Razorbacks went 11-1 in non-conference play going in to their conference schedule. They headed into SEC play with a 71-64 win on the road at Indiana University. Arkansas defeated TCU 78-67 at home in the mid season SEC vs Big 12 Challenge. Arkansas at that point had gone 3-3 in SEC play with wins over Vandy and Texas A&M at home, and Ole Miss on the road. Losses were to LSU and MSU on the road, and a loss at home to Kentucky. Arkansas was 16-5 (4-4) when they lost their 2nd leading scorer for a five game stretch, where they posted a 0-5 record. At full strength over the final six games, the Razorbacks finished the season 4-2. Musselman, in his first year at Arkansas recruited the fifth and sixth-ranked recruiting class in the nation according to ESPN.com and 247sports.com respectively.