SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 12, 2021

Davonte Davis

Arkansas Razorbacks

Postgame Press Conference

Arkansas 70, Missouri 64

THE MODERATOR: Davonte Davis. Questions, please.

Q. J.D. came off the bench, gave you 27 points when he wasn't feeling well. Talk about that effort from him.

DAVONTE DAVIS: Well, J.D. can be a starter or he can come off the bench and still give us a spark. That's what we need from him. He's a scorer on all three levels. He can also run the team. If it's getting people involved or scoring the ball, he can do it. We know he can do that. It's nothing new to us.

Q. That said, he wasn't feeling so good. Coach thought it might be food poisoning. How big is his performance?

DAVONTE DAVIS: It's amazing, just knowing that J.D. Notae fought through it. We didn't know what it was. We was at halftime not knowing if he was going to come back. Him being a fighter, helping us out coming off the bench, giving us 27 points, contributing down the stretch helped us out a lot.

Q. How big was it for Ethan Henderson to come off the bench, give you a little bit of an adrenaline punch?

DAVONTE DAVIS: Oh, it was amazing just watching him come off the bench, just see him dunk the ball. Just exciting moments like him coming off the bench and dunking a ball. Seeing that from him excites everybody. The crowd, as you seen, was excited. Everybody on the bench, the coaching staff was excited.

Seeing that from Ethan, knowing he can do that, is amazing.

Q. Could you describe the experience of your first post-season game, then the importance of Justin getting going offensively after halftime.

DAVONTE DAVIS: Not going to lie. It felt like we was at Bud. We had so many fans. It's fun being out there with those guys. I feel comfortable. I love playing with this team, playing for this coaching staff. As you see, we pulled off the win. We going to continue to try to win, pull off these games.

Q. I've never seen so many offensive fouls by Missouri before. What was the defensive mindset of the team going into the game?

DAVONTE DAVIS: It wasn't taking charges like we did tonight. I mean, hey, as you seen, Moses had like four or five of them. It's crazy. He didn't know he was going to do that. He keyed in on it. As y'all seen, just like us, they actually taking and pushing off and things like that. As we had to do, take charges, help us out in the defensive end.

So Moses did it and a couple other players, like Jalen Tate, as you seen, was in foul trouble. He picked it up on the defensive end and helped us out a lot in the game.

Q. Arkansas scores just 70 points tonight, well below your regular season average. Coach talked about being able to win in different styles. How difficult was it tonight to adjust to the pace that Missouri wanted to play at?

DAVONTE DAVIS: I mean, us, we watched film on them guys. Yesterday they actually was pushing the ball. We thought we can -- because that's how we play. We usually push the ball as well. They pushed it. It wasn't working out for us at the beginning. As you seen, we couldn't score.

As you seen coming into the end of the first half, going into the second half, we had to change some things up. We had to run some halfcourt assists, just get guys open. Also get second-chance buckets. As you seen, we did that.

Q. A grinding game the way I was thinking.

DAVONTE DAVIS: For sure.

Q. Could you touch on the play of Justin, how big his offensive impact was in the second half.

DAVONTE DAVIS: It was wonderful. I mean, just seeing him get these tip-in buckets, things like that to help us out, give us the lead, chip away in a game. We needed that from Justin. He fouled out, but as you seen, before he fouled out, he gave us a big boost. We needed that for sure, even though we were playing small ball.

Q. (Question about J.D.'s shot.)

DAVONTE DAVIS: That's a J.D. Notae bucket. That's what we call it. He gets it done. You seen it. Hey, it's nothing. We seen it at practice. We know he can do that. Nothing special.

For y'all guys, I know it excites you guys and the fans. We all love it. He's going to continue to do it. It's nothing new.

Q. What did you think of the way he was able to carry you guys in the half with that stretch?

DAVONTE DAVIS: We needed it 'cause J.T., Tate, he was in foul trouble. J.D. is next in line for the point guard. After him it's me. Me and him exchanging, him running the show, getting everybody involved. As you seen, Ethan came in when J.D. came in. Feeding him, he's getting dunks. Ethan getting dunks and things like that. As you seen, J.D. was a contributor, but he also can score any time he wants and get the job done no matter what position he playing or how Coach Muss wants to play him.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.