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It has been a rough stretch for Arkansas’ second-leading scorer.
JD Notae had scored in double figures in all but one of the Razorbacks’ first 13 games before managing just 12 total points over the previous three.
The transfer from Jacksonville who sat out last season broke out of his funk in Arkansas’ 74-59 win over Ole Miss on Wednesday, dropping a team-high 19 points on 4 of 11 shooting - including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
“I just feel like I just shot the ball with more confidence, and I had open looks and I just took them,” Notae said. “Coach said if I’m open, shoot the ball.”
Head coach Eric Musselman said he had talked with his streaky shooter several times over the past couple of weeks, during which he shot just 18.2 percent (4 of 22) from the floor and 2 of 9 (22.2 percent) from three-point range.
“A lot of conversations (about)…just kind of letting the game come (to him) a little bit, don’t get too anxious shooting, although he led us again in field goals attempted,” Musselman said. “He seems to always find a way to do that no matter how many minutes or how few minutes we give him, but he is that guy that can break a defense down and go get his own shot or go get a shot for a teammate.”
Perhaps most importantly, Notae drew five fouls in his 25 minutes off the bench, resulting in nine free throw attempts - of which he made eight. He had taken just four shots from the charity stripe in the previous three games combined.
On top of his scoring, he had five rebounds - which was one shy of matching his season high - and dished out two assists with only one turnover, while also notching a steal.
“He kind of did everything for us,” Connor Vanover said. “He was a ballhandler. Really took care of it most of the time. He had great shots. Found open people. … It was good to see him getting back to how I know he can play."
Here are a few other notes and tidbits from Arkansas’ easy win over the Rebels…
Injury Updates
A pair of Razorbacks had to leave the game with unusual injuries during the second half Wednesday night.
Early in the half, Desi Sills threw down a fast-break dunk following a Jalen Tate steal and his momentum led to him falling to the ground hard, in a bellyflop fashion.
“He took a hard fall, but he’s got such great toughness,” Musselman said. “I think it was just the air knocked out of him. He came out for a minute and a half and then he was itchy to get back in.”
It proved to be a big play, as it came on a possession when Ole Miss could have cut the deficit to single digits and instead, Arkansas eventually stretched its lead to 20.
With the game pretty much in hand, there wasn’t any rush to get him back in, but Sills did play some more. He checked back in after about 10.5 minutes of game time had passed.
