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FAYETTEVILLE — A late turnover by JD Notae appeared to be the icing on the cake for an LSU victory in Fayetteville, but the senior guard got a chance at redemption.
After the Tigers failed to convert a basket on the next possession, it was Notae who came out with the ball and drew a foul to send him to the line for the go-ahead free throws with 8.6 seconds left in a 77-76 Arkansas victory over the Tigers at Bud Walton Arena.
Of Notae’s 12 points in the game, nine came in the final 10:33. The SEC’s second-leading scorer went nearly 30 minutes between his first and second baskets in the game and shot just 3 of 12 from the floor.
“JD, when he’s not scoring, he still comes up clutch,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “The two free throws obviously changes the game and not a lot of guys can step up with that confidence when you’re not having a great offensive night. There’s so much attention he draws even when he’s not scoring, which opens things up for other guys.”
Instead, it was Stanley Umude who paced the team with 23 points, continuing his recent stretch of offensive consistency. Au’Diese Toney scored a quiet 18 points, all of which came in the paint or at the charity stripe.
The Razorbacks controlled much of the first half, leading for more than 17 minutes, but couldn’t separate from LSU. They were on the verge of going to the locker room with a deficit, but Umude sank a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to knot it up at 35-35 going into halftime.
A couple of quick turnovers by Notae contributed to a 7-0 run by the Tigers to start the second half, prompting an early timeout by Musselman.
Arkansas managed to dig out of that hole and actually regained the lead midway through the half. It didn’t last long, though, as a Tari Eason 3-pointer put LSU back on top with 9:22 remaining.
An Umude 3-pointer at the 4:49 mark pulled the Razorbacks within two and sent the crowd into a frenzy, but Williams recorded his fifth foul on the other end of the court to quickly silence the fans.
“It was terrible being on the side,” Williams said. “I was thanking my teammates as I was walking off the court — I never thought we were going to lose.”
The Tigers managed to extend the lead to four over the next two and a half minutes, but another three from Umude cut the deficit to one with 2:10 remaining.
Eason fouled out with 24 points and 1:35 on the clock. Toney made the ensuing free throws to make it a two-point game and then on the next Razorback possession, he made a layup to tie it at 74-74.
Playing in Williams’ place, forward Kamani Johnson got tied up with Mwani Wilkinson and a flagrant one foul was called, sending Johnson to the line for two freebies. He sank one of the two to cut LSU’s lead to 76-75, but Notae turned the ball over on the ensuing Arkansas possession.
The Tigers were unable to convert on the offensive end and Notae came out with the ball for Arkansas. Notae pulled up and was fouled by Wilkinson — his fifth — to send him to the line for the aforementioned go-ahead free throws.
LSU’s Xavier Pinson had an opportunity to hit a game-winner, but the moment was too big and the crowd was too loud. Arkansas managed to escape with the one-point victory in the home finale.
“That last play I thought we did a great job of going vertical, keeping Pinson in front of us,” Musselman said. “Especially late game to force him left, not let him go to his strong hand, not to foul him, that’s hard, too — not to foul a guy who’s got such a quick first step. I thought we did a really good job of going vertical as well.”
Here are a few other key takeaways from Arkansas’ win Wednesday night…
Williams attacks down low early and often
The Razorbacks’ big man forced himself in the paint throughout much of the first half. The end result was usually two points for the Hogs or a trip to the free throw line.
LSU attacked Notae off screens set by Williams to start the game, so that opened opportunities for Williams at the rim. He credited his teammates for finding him under the basket.
“My teammates were finding me,” Williams said. “We knew from the jump that they were going to blitz on JD every time I set a screen, so the short roll would be a really good thing for me. They were just finding me in open spots.”
Williams shot five free throws in the first 11:12 of the game. His aggressiveness was one of the biggest factors in Arkansas keeping up with the Tigers early on. His 13 points and seven rounds were both team-highs in the first half.
The bad start on the boards was quickly cleaned up thanks in large part to Williams. He fought for rebounds and established himself as a scorer, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
