Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Muss gets in air time on telecast
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman wasn’t feeling any symptoms from the coronavirus Tuesday when he had to miss the Razorbacks’
85-72 victory over Abilene Christian because of contact tracing.
Musselman was in quarantine at home because he was in close contact with a staff member who tested positive for covid-19.
“All good so far,” Musselman said in a text after the game.
Musselman felt well enough to do a lengthy interview with the SEC Network — which telecast the game — during the first half.
“Unique, different, never happened before, all the above,” Musselman said to announcers Tom Hart and
Jimmy Dykes when asked about his set-up at home.
Musselman quickly launched into his early critiques.
“We lost a jump ball for the second time, so we might have to change and put Justin Smith for the jump ball instead of Connor Vanover,” he said. “JD Notae got beat on a back door. We said 1,000 times, ‘No back doors’ because Abilene Christian likes to back door.
“And to start the game Connor Vanover did a threequarter windshield wipe in the post, and 34 [Kolton] Kohl got too easy of a look.”
Second to none
Arkansas junior guard JD Notae had another big second half when he scored 17 of his 19 points against Abilene Christian.
In the previous two games Notae scored 17 points in the second half against the University of Central Arkansas to finish with 22, and scored all 15 of his points against Oral Roberts in the second half.
“I just feel like I try to do too much [in the first half] and make the home-run play,” Notae said. “In the second half, I feel like I let the game come to me.”
Notae, who has played off the bench in all eight games this season, is averaging 14.3 points.
“I think when you watch him on tape, he’s one of the scariest players on their roster because they give him the ultimate green light,” Abilene Christian Coach Joe Golding said. “He can really, really score the basketball.
“He can make threes, so you’ve got to get out there and guard him. And then he can put the ball on the floor. He’s crafty in there, man. He finds a way to get to the rim even when you help.”
Simmons shines
Abilene Christian sophomore Airion Simmons, a 6-5 forward from Little Rock Parkview, had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 18 minutes off the bench.
“Big Airion, that’s my guy,” said Arkansas freshman guard Moses Moody, who is also from Little Rock and played at Parkview as a freshman. “We grew up going to middle school together and high school.
“We were out there on the court talking. We’re competing at the same time. No friends on the floor, but after the game we talked. And we’re all going home to the city [for Christmas], so I’m probably going to see him.”
Abilene Christian Coach Joe Golding said Simmons was a little overly excited for the start for the game, then settled in.
“The first half Airion was obviously a little fired up,” Golding said. “He’s played AAU basketball with a lot of those guys playing for Arkansas now. I thought the second half he settled down. I was excited that he got to come home and played well.
“He’s undersized, but he’s one of the toughest kids in our program. He might make a lot of money one day in the NFL as a defensive tackle or defensive end or something. He’s been a heck of a basketball player for us. We’ve extremely fortunate to have him.”
Third-person action
The Razorbacks’ covid-19 testing and tracing also knocked out assistant coach Clay Moser and director of basketball operations Anthony Ruta. Their absences led to some shuffling of responsibilities on the Arkansas bench.
“The play calls that we hold up during the game is usually Coach Moser,” Eric Musselman said on the SEC Network broadcast. “Then it was going to be Coach Ruta. So they’re not there, so we’re actually on our third person holding up our offensive play cards.
“But we have a laid-out script of first seven plays of the game. Then it goes basically the 10th to the 25th play of an order of how I’d like to do it. You can kind of flip them. Basically the assistant coach who’s in charge of the play call board will just kind of roll through that script.”
Vs. Southland
Arkansas improved to 31-1 all-time against Southland Conference teams, including 2-0 this season.
In addition to the Razorbacks beating Abilene Christian in the teams’ first meeting, they beat the University of Central Arkansas 100-75 on Dec.
12 in the Bears’ first game against Arkansas since the 1946-47 season.
Northwestern (La.) State is the lone Southland Conference team to beat the Razorbacks, 74-68, during the 1954-55 season.
Take a knee
Five Abilene Christian players and one staff member took a knee during the national anthem when it was sung virtually.
The players and staff member, who also bowed their heads during the anthem, stood up and applauded when the anthem was over.
Little Rock days
Abilene Christian Coach Joe Golding was an assistant at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for three seasons from 2008-09 through 2010-11. He then left for Abilene Christian, where he’s in his 10th season and has taken the Wildcats from the NCAA Division II to Division I level, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019.
Golding worked at UALR with coach Steve Shields and assistant coach Joe Kleine.
“They helped make me the coach I am today,” Golding said. “I was able to learn Division I basketball and what it was about. I would hope those guys would be proud of the program we’ve built here and what we’re trying to accomplish.”