SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 12, 2021

J.D. Notae

Arkansas Razorbacks

Postgame Press Conference

Arkansas 70, Missouri 64

THE MODERATOR: We welcome in J.D. Notae. We'll take questions.

Q. Coach said he thinks you might have had food poisoning, had to throw up a couple times. How are you feeling? Were you surprised you played so well?

J.D. NOTAE: I feel a lot better. What was your question again? My bad.

Q. Coach said he thinks maybe you had food poisoning. You had to throw up a couple times. How do you feel? How did you feel during the game? How do you feel like you played?

J.D. NOTAE: I feel like I played all right. Had a few too many turnovers. But we got the win. That's all I really care about.

Q. The shot you hit late, describe that play.

J.D. NOTAE: I was driving left, and the dude who was in the corner, his man kind of like hit it. It was bobbing. I just felt it by my feet. I knew the shot clock was running down, so I just tried to get it on the go.

Q. Jeremiah Tilmon was a focal point in the game plan for you guys. Held him to nine points, no rebounds, fouled him out. Talk about the job that Justin did on him, also the boost you got from Ethan Henderson off the bench.

J.D. NOTAE: The boost from Ethan, just him being ready, we knew we was going to throw him in. We've been practicing it all week. Just for him to come in and execute the way he did, I'm proud of Ethan.

For Justin, just fighting down there, just making it hard for them, just making everything tough.

Q. How important is it to get this win and be playing tomorrow in the semifinals, to keep this streak going?

J.D. NOTAE: It's very important 'cause that's why we here. We want to win every game. We especially didn't want to go home during the first one.

Q. Justin really turned it on in the second half, especially on the offensive end. How big was that, him getting going offensively?

J.D. NOTAE: Very big. Our team, like, it doesn't matter who scores, we just need everybody to play hard. I feel like he did that.

Q. How important is it for you guys to get back, get off your feet, get some rest? You've got a game in less than 24 hours now.

J.D. NOTAE: Very important. Just taking care of our bodies, getting our bodies ready for tomorrow, another dogfight. We know it's not going to be easy, so we got to take care of our bodies.

Q. You win Sixth Man of the Year, then you have to play a game. Knowing you just won that really prestigious award, what was your mindset going in?

J.D. NOTAE: Just come out, follow the game plan, just know my capability on the court, just have confidence in myself and my teammates to just go out there and just do what I do.

Q. You were saying you felt like you had way too many turnovers as a team. What was causing all these turnovers tonight?

J.D. NOTAE: We tried to make a play. I feel like a lot of our turnovers was us trying to make a good play for our teammates. I mean, it happens sometimes. We had a lot, but, hey, we got the win. We just got to clean it up.

Q. In the first half you basically filled that ideal role of the sixth man. Did you feel the need that you had to step it up because your team was struggling?

J.D. NOTAE: For sure. Just knowing I got to just try to do something to, like, give our team some energy. I feel like we did that, and then we came back.

Q. I think you had higher scoring games at Jacksonville. Given this is the SEC tournament, you're playing a pretty good defense, you were sick, do you think it's the best game of your career? Where would you rank it?

J.D. NOTAE: I'm not sure. It was a good win, so that's all I really care about.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.