Arkansas coach Eric Musselman’s complete press conference on latest ranking, final home game of season Wednesday night against the Tigers.
Razorbacks’ Notae on winning top player honors after big week
Hogs’ JD Notae’s complete press conference after big wins over Florida, Kentucky plus when he’ll make decision about extra year.
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Notae picks up national, SEC top player honors after big week
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Last week was a pretty good one for Arkansas’ JD Notae.
After averaging 26 points, 5.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game in wins at Florida and against sixth-ranked Kentucky, he picked up some national notice this week.
Notae was named both the National Player of the Week by Andy Katz-NCAA March Madness and the SEC Player of the Week.
It is Notae’s first career weekly SEC honor and the third by a Razorback this season, joining two-time recipient Jaylin Williams.
At Florida, Notae had a team-high 22 points while adding six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in helping Arkansas snap a 14-game losing streak to the Gators in Gainesville.
Notae scored five key points late in the game to secure the win. First, with Arkansas up one with 1:06 left, he drained a three-pointer to put Arkansas up four. After a defensive stop, Notae sank two free throws with 40 ticks left for a six-point cushion.
Before another packed house at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday against Kentucky, Notae had 30 points and eight assists in a 75-73 win.
He became the first Razorback to have at least 30 and eight in any game since the Hogs joined the SEC (1991-92).
He additionally became the first SEC player to have at least 30 and eight against an AP top 10 team in the last 25 years.
It was the third time Notae has scored at least 30 points this season and his eight assists both tied a season-high and were a career-high in an SEC game.
Notae led Arkansas to a 15-2 run to start the Kentucky game with eight points and two assists. He accounted for 12 of the first 15 points.
While he only scored once inside the final 11:07, four of his eight assists came during the span, including assists on two of Jaylin Williams’s three field goals when Williams scored 10 straight for the Hogs (three field goals and four free throws) inside the final 4:38.
His eighth assist of the game came with 1:22 left (to Williams) that put Arkansas up one (71-70), a lead the Hogs would not relinquish.
Finally, up four with nine seconds left, Notae blocked a shot by TyTy Washington to help seal the win.
Notae is second in the SEC in scoring (19.07), second in steals (2.21), fourth in field goals made (2.25), 12th in assists (3.57) and 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.32).
Arkansas returns to action Wednesday against LSU in the Razorbacks’ final home game of the 2021-22 season.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy thinks JD Notae has put himself into conversations for postseason teams with big year.
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Razorbacks close out regular season finally getting a win
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Arkansas finally got one of these games at the end of a brutal schedule to go their way.
“To end the stretch that we had with a win just encapsulates how our season has gone,” Razorbacks coach Mike Neighbors said after an 87-79 win over Mississippi State.
It’s been a tough end of the season with four straight losses before closing out with a win over a pesky Bulldogs’ team that couldn’t seem to miss a lot of three-pointers.
After feeling “gut-punched” after a one-point loss to Georgia at home Thursday night, Neighbors let the players take over preparations for the road game without a real day to practice.
“Our players did the scouting report,” he said later. “I assigned each one part of the film and every word we put on the scouting report was from their reports.”
It worked out well.
The win over State gave the Hogs an eighth-place finish in the SEC headed to the tournament next week. They will play a familiar opponent on Thursday in Missouri, who clinched the No. 9 seed with a win over Florida.
Against the Bulldogs, the Hogs’ offense had six different Hogs reach double figures.
Sasha Goforth led the way, scoring 20 points for the first time since coming home to Arkansas. Amber Ramirez supplied 15 and Makayla Daniels scored 14.
TURNING POINT
This was a fast-paced game all the way through, and the two offenses scored with relative ease in the first two quarters.
Arkansas was finally able to gain some separation right before the halftime break with a quick 7-0 run, including five straight points from Daniels. The Razorbacks entered the break up 44-39.
Mississippi State came out of the locker room hot, going on a 7-2 run of its own to tie the game at 46.
It was a seesaw affair once again, and the Dawgs even took the lead back with 5:10 to play in the third quarter.
The Hogs put together another big run to close the quarter, going on a 10-4 spurt to close the penultimate frame. The Hogs led 61-56 after three.
The Razorbacks were able to hold on due to some clutch plays down the stretch. Erynn Barnum was excellent in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of her 10 points in the quarter.
She was also four of four from the free throw line down the stretch. The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead down to four with 1:38 to play, but the Hogs ended the game on a 7-3 run, clinching the eighth seed and the season sweep.
HOG HIGHLIGHTS
• Samara Spencer led the team in assists, matching her career-high with six of them.
• Goforth had three more blocks in the game, her ninth game this year with three or more.
• Ramirez led the team on the glass, pulling down eight rebounds. She also had a team-high four steals.
• Barnum’s 10 points marked her first game in double-figures since November 28 against Belmont.
NEXT TIME OUT
Arkansas is onto the SEC Tournament, where they will meet Missouri in the 8/9 game. That game will tipoff at noon on Thursday, March 3, and will air live on SEC Network.
