Key takeaways, box score from Arkansas' 76-60 win over Penn

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas pulled away early in the second half and coasted to another easy victory Sunday afternoon.

JD Notae knocked down a mid-range jumper just before the buzzer to give the Razorbacks an 11-point lead at halftime and their lead never fell to single digits en route to a 76-60 win over Penn inside Bud Walton Arena.

It was a 12-1 run to open the second half that pushed Arkansas’ lead out to 22, but a four-minute scoring drought and 9-0 run by the Quakers got them back in it midway through the half.

Penn managed to cut its deficit to 10 with four minutes left, but that was as close as it would get. Notae answered with four straight layups to seal the victory.

Following the game, Penn coach Steve Donahue - who was previously the head coach at Boston College from 2010-14 - told reporters that he was impressed by the No. 13 Razorbacks.

“Having coached in the ACC, I know how difficult it is when you have a lot of new bodies to get everybody to play really hard, but I think that is their biggest attribute right now,” Donahue said. “They have some pieces that are really nice - (Au’Diese) Toney is a great offensive rebounder and cutter, the kid (Jaylin) Williams is an elite passer and willing to do a little bit of everything, and then you have guys that can really score like Notae and (Chris) Lykes and I think (Davonte) Davis will get it going.

“So there is a lot of things going for them and the overriding thing is they compete and a high level and it is going to win them a lot of games.”

While he may have been impressed, head coach Eric Musselman was not. His frustration with certain aspects of the Razorbacks’ performance was evident in his postgame remarks.

“I want to keep getting better, so I’m not going to sleep well tonight, because I just saw too many holes,” Musselman said. “I’m on edge today about getting better. Happy that we won and happy that we’re undefeated.

“But tonight, you’ve got to play your minutes so people like Jaxson (Robinson) can get in the game and we can evaluate, but when you mess around with the game and you don’t close people out, unfortunately not everybody gets an opportunity to go out there and prove themselves.”

Here are a few key takeaways - both positive and negative - from Arkansas’ win over Penn on Sunday…

Umude Breakout Game

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Sunday’s win was the play of Stanley Umude.

A prolific scorer at South Dakota, Umude had not put together a big scoring night in his first five games with the Razorbacks. His season high was just 10 points and he was averaging only 7.8 points coming into the Penn game - a far cry from his 21.6 points per game with the Coyotes last season.

He had some flashes in Kansas City last week, but finally broke through with 19 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting performance Sunday. His mid-range shooting was vital against Penn’s zone defense, plus he added 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.

“He’s so good in that midrange,” Musselman said. “When teams zone us, he finds sweet spots. … Either working the dunker’s spot or what we call the hot spot in the middle of the floor.”

In a 45-second span during the Razorbacks’ big run to start the second half, Umude threw down a dunk, blocked a shot on the other end and then made a 3-pointer. He ended up 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, with his other snapping the Quakers’ aforementioned 9-0 run.

With Au’Diese Toney getting ejected early in the second half, Musselman said Umude got to play more small forward in Sunday’s game rather than the 4 and 5 he had been playing.

That could have been a factor in his breakout performance, as he admitted to reporters that he is still getting comfortable in Arkansas’ system and figuring out how he fits in the big picture.

Turnover Struggles