Tag: Kamani Johnson

JD Notae, Kamani Johnson may be back for Arkansas against Vanderbilt

If JD Notae and Kamani Johnson are back for Arkansas, the Hogs should bounce back just fine against Vanderbilt.

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Arkansas discovered in its season opener that being down two bodies can make a world of difference.

In game No. 2 of SEC play, the Razorbacks may get those bodies back.

Hogs guard JD Notae missed Wednesday’s loss at Mississippi State because of an undisclosed illness. Forward Kamani Johnson missed because he was – and still is – suspended from the team. Notae is the league’s second-leading scorer. Johnson had been coming off his best game of the season.

Johnson is day-to-day with his suspension while Notae is a game-time decision ahead of tip-off against Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

“I think it’ll just be, hey, has he (Notae) gotten enough reps where our trainer feels comfortable and JD feels comfortable? I think if that’s the case, he’ll play. If they feel that he’s not, then he just won’t play.”

The Commodores will bring the top scorer in the league, and a preseason All-SEC player, in Scottie Pippen Jr. He scored 23 points in Vanderbilt’s two-point win over Brigham Young the last time Vandy took the floor on December 23. The Cougars are the No. 27 team in the KenPom.com rankings, higher than anyone Arkansas has beaten in 2021-22.

Arkansas never vibed against Mississippi State when lacking Notae and Johnson. Forward Stanley Umude and guard Devo Davis shot a combined 14 of 28 and combined for 34 points, but the rest of the team went just 11 of 35 in the 13-point loss.

Tip from Bud Walton Arena is a 7:30 p.m.

Turnovers doom out-of-sync Arkansas in loss to Mississippi State

Short-handed Razorbacks falter in second half, drop SEC opener to Mississippi State.

Lacking its best player and one of its top big men, Arkansas was in no position to open SEC play with a win.

Mississippi State took advantage of a short-handed Razorbacks squad and won both teams’ SEC openers, 81-68, on Wednesday evening in Starkville.

Arkansas (10-3, 0-1 in SEC) announced minutes before the game that guard JD Notae, the team’s leading scorer (second in the SEC) would miss the game because of an undisclosed illness. The team also announced Kamani Johnson, who had his best game of the season last time out against Elon, was indefinitely suspended from the team. No reason was given.

The Razorbacks looked disheveled without them. Mississippi State (10-3, 1-0) won nearly every meaningful statistic and took away Arkansas’ strength of getting to the inside on offense. Without Notae, Arkansas forced the issue, committing 17 turnovers, which led to 25 Mississippi State points.

Arkansas entered the game allowing opponents to grab about seven offensive rebounds a game, the best mark in the SEC. But without Johnson on the interior, the Bulldogs racked up 15 offensive boards. Tolu Smith was especially dominant on the interior, scoring 18 points and getting six rebounds.

Shakeel Moore, Iverson Molinar and D.J. Jeffries joined Smith in double figures with 16, 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Stanley Umude led Arkansas in scoring with 19. Devo Davis added 15 points and Chris Lykes had 10.

Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena to start SEC play at home on Tuesday against Vanderbilt.

The bounce is back: Hogs hammer Elon

Arkansas used a band of unusual suspects to play one of its most complete games of the season, a 81-55 win over Elon.

There were frustrations to be levied for Arkansas basketball. Poor Elon found itself in the unenviable position of having to take said punishment.

Arkansas ended the first half on a 17-0 run and snapped a two-game losing streak before SEC play begins next week, beating Elon, 81-55.

Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman altered his minutes distribution against the Phoenix. Arkansas looked more like it did at the beginning of the season as it played 11 players with Musselman looking for a spark.

Jaxson Robinson provided a bulk of it.

The Texas A&M transfer came off the bench and made three 3-pointers during the big run that turned a six-point Arkansas deficit to a 12-point edge at halftime. Elon went the final 6:11 of the half without a point.

Robinson scored a career-high 14 points, one of four Razorbacks in double figures. Chris Lykes led the team with 21 points, Kamani Johnson had 15 and JD Notae 14.

Arkansas led by as many as 30 points in the second half. Elon went on a 13-0 run to make the score more respectable. Michael Graham led the Phoenix with 14 points and Darius Burford added 12.

The Razorbacks (10-2) had dropped consecutive games to Oklahoma and Hofstra on the previous two Saturdays, knocking them from No. 12 in the country to unranked. They have time off at Christmas before returning to action January 29 to open SEC play at Mississippi State.