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FAYETTEVILLE — Auburn players danced on the Razorback logo during pregame, but Arkansas fans were the ones celebrating on the court after Tuesday’s game.
For just the second time in school history, the Razorbacks beat the No. 1 team in the country, taking down the Tigers 80-76 in overtime in front of a record crowd at Bud Walton Arena.
The result snapped Auburn’s 19-game winning streak - plus was its first SEC loss of the year - and gave Arkansas its ninth straight win.
“We didn’t like that,” Jaylin Williams said about Auburn’s pregame antics. “That was disrespect to us. Before the game, we saw it. They played it in the locker room. Like, not in Bud. We can’t allow that. Just the extra disrespect, they added fuel to the fire and we wanted to get them back.”
Early on, it seemed like the Razorbacks might run away with it. They whipped the crowd into a frenzy by racing out to a 12-point lead in the first half, but Auburn ended the half on a 10-1 run to pull it within three at halftime.
It was a one-possession game for all but 33 seconds in a wild second half that featured 13 ties and 13 lead changes.
Wendell Green Jr. made three straight shots to briefly give the Tigers a 64-59 lead with 2:40 remaining, but Arkansas managed to fight back and tie it up with five free throws - the last two of which were made by JD Notae after he picked Green’s pocket near midcourt and was fouled on a fast-break layup.
“I'd just seen he'd been turning his back the whole game,” Notae said. “And I just waited ’til he just turned his back so he couldn't see me to go rip it from behind.”
After another layup by Green put Auburn back on top, the Razorbacks answered on the other end. Notae drove on Walker Kessler and found Williams on the block. Even though he didn’t catch it cleanly, the big man recovered and finished to tie the game at 66-66 with 22.4 seconds remaining.
“I’m pretty sure he had Kessler on him at that (time) and I thought he was just going to take him to the basket and get a bucket,” Williams said. “I had K.D. (Johnson) on me, so I sealed him and JD got past him and he dropped it off to me and I finished.”
Rather than calling a timeout, the Tigers settled for a deep 3 by Green, who never passed the ball on the final possession of regulation.
Once in overtime, Auburn made a pair of layups sandwiched around a Notae 3-pointer. Arkansas sealed the victory at the charity stripe, scoring its final 11 points on free throws.
When Kessler fouled out going for a rebound Williams had already secured with 1:03 left in overtime, the sellout crowd started to feel it. Williams made both free throws to make it a two-possession game.
Despite a couple of 3-pointers by Jabari Smith in the final 30 seconds, Arkansas made just enough free throws to hold off the Tigers — aided by Williams grabbing an offensive rebound following a miss that otherwise would have given Auburn the ball with 12 seconds and down just three.
For the game, the Razorbacks shot 81.3 percent (26 of 32) from the charity stripe, compared to Auburn - the SEC's leading free throw shooting team - going just 8 of 17 (47.1%).
“Coach Muss said it earlier when we were in practice when we do our free-throw shooting, he told us this game will come down to free-throws, and that's what happened,” Notae said. “We stepped up to the line and made it.”
Arkansas, which received the second-most votes of any team outside the AP top-25 poll, improved to 19-5 overall and 8-3 in SEC play, while Auburn dropped to 22-2 and 10-1 in SEC play. Both of the Tigers’ losses this season have come in overtime.
“I was proud to be No. 1,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “Gosh, we haven’t lost since some time in November. We understand the price is on our head. It’s very difficult on the road. Congratulations to Arkansas.”
Here are several other key takeaways from Tuesday’s game…
Notae’s Performance
Although he led the team in scoring, Notae did not have a particularly good shooting night in Arkansas’ win over Mississippi State on Saturday. He was just 4 of 16 from the floor and missed all six of his 3-point attempts while scoring 14 points.
It was a quiet game for the SEC’s leading scorer, but his teammates knew he’d bounce back in a big way against Auburn.
“I texted him after the last game (and) said, ‘JD, stay confident in yourself. We need you this game. We need you this game coming up. We know what you can do. Stay confident and come out there and play your game,’” Williams said. “We all knew what he was going to do when he came out here.”
Sure enough, Notae dropped 28 points on the Tigers, including a 3-pointer in overtime and several clutch free throws down the stretch. It was the most points an Arkansas player has ever scored against a No. 1 team, surpassing Rickey Medlock’s 27 points against UCLA in 1973.
Considering he’s from Covington, Ga., and seven of Auburn’s players are also from the Peach State, Notae felt comfortable in the big environment.
“Being aggressive, staying true to who I am and just not being afraid to go down there with the big dogs,” Notae said. “I played against them when I was growing up, so it was just like another day to me.”
