It's rare for any team outside of the ACC to have to play North Carolina and Duke in back-to-back games, but that's the exact task that the Arkansas basketball team had in front of them this past week. After falling short against the Tar Heels in a consolation game in the Battle 4 Atlantis (and losing Tramon Mark in the process), the Razorbacks had to travel back to Fayetteville and prepare to host a Duke squad that is ranked 7th in the country. The Razorbacks were home dogs, but playing in front of a record crowd at Bud Walton Arena, they emerged with an 80-75 victory against the Blue Devils in a game that Eric Musselman called a “must-win” following the game.

“Anytime you play Duke it's a big game for your fan base, for your players, for your coaching staff,” Musselman said in the locker room after the game, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. “They're talented and well-coached, but if you don't win that game – it was a must-win for us, it really was. … You don't want to be staring at 4-4 eight games into a season. You worry about a team's confidence if you don't win that game.”

Arkansas was picked to finish 3rd in the SEC's preseason poll, so expectations were high heading into the season. With a win over Duke without Tramon Mark, the Razorbacks' leading scorer, should boost the team's confidence as they enter a five-game stretch of their schedule with four mid-major opponents upcoming. If Arkansas can weather the storm while Mark recovers, they should be among the SEC's best, just as they were forecast to be ahead of the season.

After the game, the Razorback fans in attendance stormed the court to celebrate the victory that brought Arkansas' all-time record versus Duke to 3-2. And why wouldn't they? It was Arkansas' first home win against a non-conference opponent ranked in the top 10 since Nov. 30, 2012, when they beat a Syracuse team that went on to make a run to the Final Four.