Oxford Coma: Hogs Wake Up in Second Half

Arkansas used its suddenly-stingy defense and the offensive grit to grind out a 64-55 road win against Ole Miss on Wednesday night.

JD Notae led all scorers with 25 points while sophomore Jaylin Williams filled the stat sheet with 18 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, three assists, and two steals. Matthew Murrell led Rebels scorers with 14 points.

In their last four non-overtime games, the Razorbacks (15-5, 5-3) have only given up 54 points per game on average.

This was Arkansas’s fifth consecutive victory, all of which have come in SEC play. The Razorbacks will step out of conference play on Saturday when they host West Virginia at Bud Walton Arena. That game is scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

It was a sluggish first half before the teams traded six buckets in the final 2:49, capped by Notae’s deep 3-pointer as time expired before halftime. That buzzer-beater pushed Arkansas’s lead to seven points at the break.

Ole Miss wasted little time cutting into that Hog advantage in the second half, scoring the first six points before Arkansas finally got to the free throw line after attempting no charity shots in the first 20 minutes. After Au’Diese Toney sank two freebies, the Hogs got a defensive stop, and Notae drained a 3-pointer to run the lead back up to six.

After a back-and-forth contest for the first 10 minutes of the second half Arkansas began to take control. The Razorbacks ran off 13 straight points over the next five minutes, putting the game out of reach. The Rebels did not eclipse the 40-point mark until the 4:05 mark in the second half.

Trey Wade had an impressive night for the Hogs, adding 12 points on a perfect shooting night at 5-for-5 from the field. The Wichita State transfer added four assists and five rebounds.

In his post-game interview with SEC Network, Coach Eric Musselman had already turned the page and began focusing on Saturday.