FAYETTEVILLE — Despite playing banged up, Saturday’s win over Central Arkansas was enjoyable for Arkansas guard Jalen Tate.
The graduate transfer from Northern Kentucky recorded his third career double-double in the Razorbacks’ 100-75 victory, and he had fun doing so. After making a pass in the second half that led to an easy score for Arkansas, Tate gestured as if he were looking through binoculars as he backpedaled to the defensive end.
Thought of more as a defensive and pass-first guard when he joined the Razorbacks, Tate turned in a complete game in Arkansas’ sixth win of the season. He finished with 17 points and a career-high 11 assists against zero turnovers.
He was limited in the team’s practice on Friday because of an ankle injury.
“I thought he was phenomenal for us,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “And then he guarded, too. I thought he did a great job.”
Tate played at times with a noticeable limp, which stemmed from tweaking his left ankle in Wednesday’s win over Southern. Musselman said the guard also injured his off hand and will have to wear a splint in the days leading up to the Dec. 20 game against Oral Roberts.
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On top of his eye-popping offensive numbers, he harassed Bears ball handlers on the perimeter and refused to get caught up in ball-screen actions. He was credited with only one steal, but his impact defensively was evident.
“I think he just bothers people with his length,” Musselman said. “He had a blocked shot. He does a pretty good job of jumping passing lanes. And I just think he’s an overall really, really good defender. You can put him on an opposing team’s really good player.
“He spearheaded a lot of our runs.”
Tate became the first Razorbacks player to finish with 11-plus assists and zero turnovers since at least the 1996-97 season, and the second player in college basketball this season to record at least 17 points and 11 assists without a miscue, according to Sports Reference.
Tate spread his 11 assists to five different players. Desi Sills, who scored 17 points, was on the receiving end of four of the passes. Connor Vanover scored three times on Tate assists.
Through six games, Tate has found Sills for eight scores and Vanover for seven. Those are the team’s top two passer-to-scorer combinations.
"He really showed his resilience,” Arkansas guard JD Notae said of Tate. “He'd been hurt all week. He hurt his ankle. The way he controlled the game in the first half, he really was our spark. He just kept that going. I mean, 11 assists, people don't get that all the time. He did his thing."
Tate was as efficient on the offensive end as he had been all season. He saw all three of his 2-point attempts fall and he also knocked down a season-high three 3-pointers.
The three triples were his most in a game since hitting four for Northern Kentucky on March 2, 2019, against Green Bay.
He connected on both of his perimeter looks from the left wing against UCA, pushing him to 4 of 5 from that area of the floor this season. Tate also hit his first right-corner 3-pointer of the year.
And on a layup assisted by Justin Smith with just under 15 minutes to play in the first half, Tate surpassed 1,000 points in his college career. It took him a while to get there, he joked, but reaching that milestone was a great feeling.
“It makes me feel really old,” he said with a laugh. “I have been doing this thing forever. It is a huge accomplishment. There is a long list of guys that have done it before (me).
Notae, who scored a game-high 22 points and has developed a close bond with Tate since he joined the program, also reached 1,000 career points in the win. He was thrilled for Tate.
"That just goes to show you how versatile he is and how much he means to our team and what he brings to the game,” Notae said. “You say he's a pass first, but he also had 17 points. That's Jalen Tate for you."