FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas didn’t have JD Notae while Mississippi State did have home court advantage and Tolu Smith when the then visiting Razorbacks lost 81-68 to Mississippi State in both teams’ SEC opener Dec. 29 in Starkville, Miss.
The situation apparently reverses. Coach Eric Musselman’s Razorbacks, 17-5 overall/6-3 in the SEC have the home court and SEC second leading scorer Notae for Saturday night’s 7:30 SEC Network televised SEC rematch at Walton Arena against Coach Ben Howland’s Bulldogs, 14-7, 5-3.
Notae, averaging 19.0 in a season long SEC scoring leader back and forth with Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. (currently 19.3), was ill and left in Fayetteville when the Hogs opened poorly in Starkville.
“In fairness to Arkansas, they did not have their best player,” Howland said during the Dec. 29 postgame at Starkville. “Notae was not available. He is a spectacular player so we will probably see him when we return this game down (geographically it’s up) in Fayetteville later this season.”
Sure seems like they will. Notae has played every game since.
The 6-2 senior guard’s latest produced 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals in Arkansas’ 99-73 rout of the Georgia Bulldogs last Wednesday in Athens, Ga.
Smith, the 6-11, 245-pounder whose Dec. 29 status was supposedly questionable for the Dec. 29 game because of a toe injury, answered that question emphatically. His 18 pts, six rebounds, and five steals were pivotal in the Bulldogs biting the Hogs in Starkville.
A dislocated kneecap during the Jan. 22 victory over Ole Miss shelved Smith the last three games, losses to Kentucky and Texas Tech and a victory over South Carolina. It seems he’s questionable at best for Saturday.
Garrison Brooks, State’s 6-9 graduate transfer from the University of North Carolina, took up Smith’s slack with a near double-double, 18 points and nine rebounds, in the Bulldogs’ 78-64 victory over South Carolina Tuesday night in Starkville.
Brooks didn’t shoot well (0 for 6) but still factored big against Arkansas in Starkville bagging 10 rebounds.
State outrebounded Arkansas, 39-31.
Point guard Iverson Molinar, the Bulldogs most renowned player, scored 16 points with five assists against Arkansas while MSU guard Shakeel Moore scored 15 with five assists and MSU forward D.J. Jeffries scored 10.
Off Howland’s bench against Arkansas, Javian Davis grabbed eight rebounds and scored six points while Andersson Garcia and Rocket Watts combined to hit 6 of 7 from the field for a combined 14 points.
“Obviously Tolu Smith is a very talented postup player,” Musselman said. “Brooks is as well. I think Brooks has become more offensive-minded than when we played them the first time.
Obviously Molinar is one of the best point guards in the league.
Watts is now getting into a little bit more of rhythm. Field goal percentage wise, they’re first in the league. They’re the fourth-leading scoring team in the league, so they’re ahead of us from a scoring standpoint. I’m sure Mississippi State has improved.”
He knows Arkansas has.
After a 9-0 start, the Razorbacks reeled from nonconference losses to Oklahoma in Tulsa and Hofstra in North Little Rock before Mississippi State started Arkansas’ opening 0-3 skid followed by losses to Vanderbilt at Walton and at Texas A&M.
Since switching to a starting lineup of previously off guard Notae on the point, with forward Au’Diese Toney moved to off guard and forwards Stanley Umude and Trey Wade with center Jaylin Williams, the Hogs have won seven straight, six in the SEC plus the SEC vs. Big 12 Challenge game against West Virginia.
Guards Chris Lykes, an exceptional nine points, seven rebounds and four assists night against Georgia, and Devo Davis and forward Kamani Williams play the most off the bench.
“Certainly we feel like we’re a different team than we were,” Musselman said. “I guess you can say we’ve kind of eliminated the ‘Your turn, my turn’ basketball and we’ve grown as playmakers on the offensive side.”
And defensively?
“We’re certainly a much more connected defensive team that seems to operate and clock as five defensive members maybe more than we were earlier in the year,” Musselman said.
The defensive exception was the wild 53-47 first half leading Georgia Wednesday night before applying the defensive breaks and continuing to shoot well in a 46-26 second half.
In his two and a half SEC seasons coaching the Hogs, Musselman in second time around SEC revenge games is 7-1, including this season avenging against Texas A&M in Fayetteville the loss to the Aggies in College Station, Texas.
“I think everybody gets an opportunity to tinker and mess around with some stuff,” Musselman said of rematches. “You’re able to find out maybe an area that you did well and you’re also able to figure out areas where you didn’t do well. And you also have to anticipate adjustments from whoever else you’re playing. Sometimes there is some luck involved.”