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FAYETTEVILLE — The White team survived an early onslaught by the Red team and pulled away late in Arkansas’ annual preseason scrimmage Sunday afternoon.
Despite opening the game in a 13-0 hole thanks to a nearly five-minute drought, the White team beat the Red 74-63 in a four-quarter, 32-minute scrimmage in front of 4,813 fans at Barnhill Arena.
A nail-biter seemed imminent when Davonte Davis converted a three-point play to pull Red within three at the 3:39 mark in the fourth quarter, but White responded with a 12-0 run over the next two minutes to put the game away.
“We just talked about that, just the fact that No. 1, you don't want to get off to a poor start like White did,” head coach Eric Musselman said afterward. “On the flip side, they stuck with it. They understood that there was a lot of minutes to play. … It shows how quickly a game can have a 20-something point swing.”
JD Notae scored five of his game-high 22 points during that stretch, while South Dakota transfer Stanley Umude contributed a double-double in a losing effort, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Here are a few other observations from the Red-White game and key takeaways from Musselman’s postgame press conference…
Assessing Notae’s Performance
Time and time again last season, Notae proved that he never saw a shot he didn’t like. A prolific scorer, he sometimes drew the ire of Musselman because of his shot selection.
Now a fifth-year senior, the former Jacksonville transfer was back at it in the Red-White game, as his 22 points came on 9 of 18 shooting, including 4 of 12 beyond the arc. A few of his attempts were ill-advised - none more so than a 30-footer early in the shot clock during the second quarter.
Musselman was clearly frustrated with the shot and called a timeout to take him out of the game. It was the kind of thing Notae has done several times during his time with the Razorbacks, but it’s a balancing act because he is also an elite scorer capable of getting hot at any time.
“All the SEC coaches, all the SEC returning players, I think everybody understands JD is as good a 1-on-1 player and as good at getting his own shot as anyone in the country,” Musselman said. “With that, we also need him to understand to get his teammates involved, as well.”
It is actually the second year in a row Notae has led the Razorbacks in scoring during the Red-White game, as he dropped 30 last year, when he went on to be named the SEC Sixth Man of the Year.
Where his game has evolved, though, is as a playmaker and defensively. Not only did he lead the team in scoring, but he also had a game-high six assists and game-high four steals.
On top of that, Notae was a more dynamic scorer than he was at this point a year ago. Almost all of his points in last season’s Red-White game came on three-pointers. On Sunday, he had 12 points on four three-pointers, but he also drove to the basket and scored 10 points in the paint.
There is no question Notae will play a large role on this year’s team, but it remains to be seen if Musselman will move him into the starting lineup or keep him coming off the bench - a role he embraced and did well in last season.
“Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to be that guy to just do what I need to do,” Notae said. “If that’s coming off the bench or starting, I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do.”
Vocal Sophomores
