Friday was not the first time this season Arkansas coach Eric Musselman used a baseball analogy when discussing the play of JD Notae.
In the first half of the 3-seed Razorbacks’ 85-68 win over 14-seed Colgate in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Notae struck out.
After halftime, he hit a home run for Arkansas.
The SEC 6th man of the year by the league’s coaches, Notae finished as one of five Arkansas players in double figures in scoring. He scored all 14 of his points in the second half, helping the Razorbacks pull away from the Raiders and advance to a second-round matchup with 6-seed Texas Tech on Sunday.
“Historically I’ve had some players like that and I just give them freedom,” Musselman said. “I don’t want to try to control their game. The beauty in some players is the freedom you allow them. Like, JD, he’s just playing ball, man. His attitude when he walks out there is no different than if he was playing at a park somewhere, shirts and skins.
“You’re going to live with an airball from three, then the next time down he’s going to hit a Steph Curry stepback three from 35 feet. I made the decision with JD and a lot of our players that I’m just going to give them freedom offensively then demand that they play defense on the other end.”
Friday was the third time in Arkansas’ last five games Notae has reached double figures in the second half alone. He added 11 points against Missouri in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals and 13 at South Carolina in a runaway victory.
Notae scored nine second-half points in the Razorbacks’ regular-season finale against Texas A&M. In those five games, he averaged 9.6 points on 46.9% shooting after halftime.
“It’s so important,” Arkansas forward Justin Smith said of Notae’s quick-strike offense. “He always finds ways to hit a big shot because I think he’s just fearless, offensively. Regardless of how many shots he’s missed or how many shots he’s taken, if he feels like he’s going to make it, he’s going to shoot it.
“We’re going to live with he result regardless because we need him to do that. We need him to have his confidence, and we need his scoring.”
The junior guard, who transferred to Arkansas from Jacksonville, came alive offensively midway through the second half as Colgate was clinging to a small lead. In a 44-second span he knocked down a three-pointer then got a layup to go plus the foul in transition to give Arkansas a two-point lead at 56-54.
Less than three minutes later, Notae buried another three-pointer and made two free throws in a 24-second stretch. The Razorbacks then led by five.
His triple with 3:51 left capped a 10-0 Arkansas run and essentially sealed the win.
Notae finished 4 of 8 from the floor and 3 of 6 from three-point range in the second half. After halftime the Razorbacks outscored the Raiders by 16 points in his 19 minutes in the lineup.
For the game, Arkansas was plus-26 with Notae on the floor.
“Just having that little Swiss Army knife coming off the bench to add to the scoring from the first group, it’s very helpful, and it’s a key,” said Smith, who scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 5 steals. “Usually, as we’ve seen in the last couple games, it makes a big difference.”
On top of his scoring outbursts, Notae tallied 3 steals and 5 rebounds, including 4 rebounds on the defensive end. He has at least 2 steals in 6 of his last 7 games, and 3 or more in 4 of them.
Notae’s rebounding has been a plus of late as well. At 6-1, he has finished with 4 or more defensive rebounds in 5 of Arkansas’ last 6 games.