NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Reserve JD Notae scored a season-high 27 points and No. 8 Arkansas overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Missouri 70-64 on Friday night to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Razorbacks (22-5) won their 12th straight SEC game. The second-seeded Razorbacks will play either LSU or Ole Miss in the semifinals Saturday, their fourth such berth since 2015.
Justin Smith scored 16 points before fouling out for Arkansas, and Davonte Davis added 11. Moses Moody, the SEC Newcomer of the Year who had been averaging 17.5 points a game, matched his season-low with five points.
Missouri (16-9) heads home having failed to reach the semifinals at this tournament since joining the SEC for the 2012-13 season with this the Tigers’ fourth loss in the quarterfinals.
Xavier Pinson led Missouri with 14 points. Dru Smith added 11.
The Tigers led for much of the first half and were up 23-13 on a layup by Dru Smith with 9:18 left.
Notae started the rally with a big dunk and made five straight shots, including back-to-back 3s to cap a 16-0 spurt. His first 3 gave Arkansas its first lead of the game with 5:13 remaining, and his second padded that lead to 29-23. The junior guard made six of his first seven shots in the half.
Pickett hit a 3-pointer that put Missouri up 33-32 at halftime. The Tigers last led 49-47 on a dunk by Kobe Brown with 9:32 left.
Arkansas took control with an 13-1 run, grabbing its biggest lead at 60-50 with 5:04 left on a layup by Notae.
Missouri had one last gasp. Parker Braun hit a 3, then Kobe Brown added a pair of free throws to pull the Tigers within 63-60 with 1:49 to go. But Notae beat the shot clock with a jumper with 1:19 remaining, and Davis split his free throws with 58 seconds left to pad the lead.
BIG PICTURE
Missouri: The Tigers matched Arkansas’ strong shooting early in the first half until foul trouble caught up with them. Jeremiah Tilmon fouled out with 5:26 to go having scored only nine points, and Mitchell Smith also fouled out.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks started their SEC winning streak rallying from a 19-point deficit against Auburn. They also trailed by 14 to Texas A&M in the regular season finale. This time, they only trailed by only 10, but that could be costly the deeper they advance this month.
UP NEXT
Arkansas are back in the semifinals for the fourth time in six tournaments. The Razorbacks either get a chance at payback against LSU, one of the four SEC teams to beat the Razorbacks this season or the opportunity to beat Ole Miss again to reach the championship.
Missouri heads home to learn its NCAA Tournament destination.
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