JD Notae scores 30 and Arkansas basketball takes down No. 3 Kentucky
FAYETTEVILLE — It's hard to choose a game as JD Notae's best. The SEC's second-leading scorer is Arkansas' most consistent offensive weapon. He hasn't scored fewer than 10 points this season and leads the team in assists and steals.
No. 18 Arkansas' 75-73 win against No. 3 Kentucky on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena is in the conversation for Notae's finest hour, though. The senior, who entered the game averaging 18.7 points per game, scored 30, one shy of his season high, and added eight assists. He's the first player with 30 and eight since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1991.
He even had his first dunk of the season and, with nine seconds left and Arkansas (23-6, 12-5 SEC) up four, Notae even blocked a Kentucky 3-pointer.
"I think he’s one of the best players in the country," Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. "He’s been a scorer his whole life. ... He’s going to keep getting better, too, because he’s seeing the game a little bit different as a point guard of late."
In a game in which Arkansas' bench only scored seven, Notae helped carry the offense that shot 48% from the field against the Wildcats (23-6, 12-4). A messy end to the first half in which he missed two and turned the ball over twice was one of the few blemishes on Notae's performance.
With the win, Arkansas improved to 4-0 against ranked opponents.
"What this group has done is they’ve weathered a really, really tough schedule," Musselman said. "And not only did they weather it, they dominated it by winning basketball games, quite frankly, against some incredible teams."
HIGHLIGHTS: No. 18 Arkansas basketball vs. No. 3 Kentucky video highlights, score
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More than a one-man show
Notae was the star, but he was far from the only impact player for Arkansas. Musselman said Jaylin Williams got sick at halftime before coming out and scoring 14 in the second half. He finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, his 11th double-double this season.
"He was not really feeling his best today," Stanley Umude said. "But he was firing down there with one of the best big men in the country. ... He’s a big reason we got the W."
Umude scored 13 including 3-for-5 shooting beyond the arc. Musselman highlighted Au'Diese Toney for his defense on Kentucky starter Kellan Grady. Grady averages 12 points per game on 46.2% shooting, and Toney held him to three points on one made field goal.
Musselman also called attention to Trey Wade, who had back-to-back dunks in Arkansas' early 15-0 run.
"No one is going to talk about Trey Wade, but I thought he got us going early in the game," Musselman said. "He had a dunk, he had a slip to the rim, he guarded his guy, had great block-outs."
Tshiebwe hangs 30
Arkansas started the game with a 15-0 run, holding Kentucky scoreless for more than five minutes. Star forward Oscar Tshiebwe had all of the Wildcats' first nine points. Tshiebwe finished with a team-high 30 points and 18 rebounds.
Musselman said Arkansas double-teamed Tshiebwe early before switching to 1-one-1 to force Tshiebwe to shoot over Williams or Kamani Johnson rather than giving up threes to other players.
"He’s virtually an impossible guy to guard one-on-one," Musselman said. "That’s why his line looks like it did."
Notae put it more simply: "That dude, he's crazy down there, I'm not going to lie."
Wildcats' injured stars return
Point guards Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington Jr., who had both missed games with injuries, were absent from Kentucky's starting lineup but checked in early in the game. Washington ranks fifth in the SEC in field goal percentage (47.7%), and Wheeler leads the SEC in assists per game (7.1).
Kentucky was without the pair of stars for parts of all three of its previous losses, but handled Alabama and LSU without them before coming to Fayetteville.
Against Arkansas, Wheeler scored 14 and dished out five assists. Washington scored 10.
Up next
Arkansas hosts LSU in its final game of the regular season at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can email her at clong@swtimes.com or follow her on Twitter @christinalong00.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: JD Notae scores 30 as Arkansas basketball takes down No. 3 Kentucky
