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Arkansas overcame a double-digit deficit Saturday afternoon, but couldn’t finish it off with a win.
JD Notae missed an off-balance, step-back 3-pointer in the closing seconds and the ensuing rebound was ruled out of bounds off the Razorbacks, essentially securing Alabama’s 68-67 victory inside Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Trailing by as many as 13 points on three separate occasions in the second half, including with 9:01 remaining, Arkansas briefly took the lead twice inside the final three minutes. However, Noah Gurley answered with buckets each time and helped the Crimson Tide snap the Razorbacks’ nine-game winning streak.
“We were a basket away from winning 10 in a row against a team that’s won a lot of really good games,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “We played with great effort. We were down, but we fought, scrapped. As a coach, as a program, effort’s always the No. 1 thing and belief. They had great effort, they had great belief. We came up short.”
It was a three-point play on a dunk by James Rojas that put Alabama up 60-47 about midway through the second half and it seemed like it’d run away with the game.
Instead, Arkansas answered with an 13-1 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Jaylin Williams and Notae that pulled it within 61-60.
“We just kept fighting,” Williams said. “That's the main thing — just keep fighting. We've been down before, so it's nothing we weren't used to. Just have to find a way.”
The two teams exchanged layups before Notae knocked down another 3 that put Arkansas up 65-64 with 2:36 left. It was the Razorbacks’ first lead since before Jaden Shackelford’s 3-pointer that tied the game at 9-9 less than four minutes into the game.
They nearly got the ball back with a chance to add to that lead when Jahvon Quinerly missed a 3. While chasing down the rebound, though, Davonte Davis had to try to throw the ball off an Alabama player as he fell out of bounds.
It seemed like he was successful in doing so, but a replay review gave the ball back to Alabama with 1:43 left. Six seconds later, the Crimson Tide fed Gurley on the block and he scored over Williams.
A pair of free throws by Notae put the Razorbacks on top again with 48 seconds remaining, but Gurley made the game-winning shot - again over Williams - with 27 seconds left. Rather than calling a timeout to draw up a play, Musselman let the final possession play out and Notae dribbled around before throwing up the aforementioned desperation 3.
“He’s got great confidence and just took a shot that you really don’t want to finish the game on,” Musselman said. “You want to try to put pressure on the defense by getting into the teeth of the defense. We’ve done such a great job all year of (getting) free throws attempted, so certainly would like a more aggressive to-the-rim play than that.”
Au’Diese Toney appeared to have a chance at grabbing the rebound and putting it back in, but he couldn’t secure it and the ball went out of bounds. Another replay gave the ball to Alabama and the Razorbacks had to foul on the ensuing inbounds.
They had a glimmer of hope when Quinerly missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3.4 seconds left, but a half-court heave by Davis - who grabbed the rebound - was off line.
Here are several other key takeaways from Saturday’s loss at Alabama…
Williams’ Career Day
It came in a losing effort, but Williams had a career day scoring the ball for the Razorbacks. The sophomore big man finished with 22 points while notching yet another double-double with 10 rebounds.
Williams’ previous high was 19 points against South Carolina last month. On Saturday, he was 6 of 15 from the floor, including 1 of 5 from deep, and 9 of 13 at the free throw line.
“I just got a lot of good, open looks from them denying JD the ball first off,” Williams said. “They were kind of helping off on the guards a lot. I’ve got to get better on my three-pointers and I’ve got to be more efficient (than) 6 of 15. I’ve got to make more shots. But it just kind of came to me, and I played my role.”
Musselman said the goal was to run the offense through Williams and that included going to him a lot with his back to the basket.
Even though he made just one 3-pointer, and it was a big one near the end of the game, the third-year coach was not upset about Williams’ five attempts because he felt they were all good looks. He also liked how he moved the ball despite finishing with just one assist.
