To paraphrase Lou Holtz: if a tie is like kissing your sister, a loss is like kissing your brother. What’s this win like?

Arkansas outlasted New Mexico State 53-48 on Saturday to reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight year. It was not a pretty game at any point, though the Hogs led most of the way. JD Notae had 18 points and eight steals, while Jaylin Williams had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Arkansas’ MVP had to be Au’Diese Toney, who scored just seven points but held New Mexico State star guard Teddy Allen to 12 points on 5 of 16 from the field.

It was a defensive battle throughout. The Hogs led 3-2 at the 14:19 mark of the first half, when a Notae layup made it 5-2. The Hogs finally went on an offensive spurt and led 26-13 right before halftime, when Devo Davis fouled a 3-point shooter, allowing a four-point play and cutting the lead to 26-17 at the break.

Just like against Vermont, the Hogs promptly blew the halftime lead. An eight-minute scoring drought allowed the Aggies to fight back, led by forward Johnny McCants, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. NMSU briefly led 33-32 at the under-8 timeout, but retook the lead and never gave it back. Notae fouled out — with all five fouls in the second half — but Chris Lykes hit 7 of 7 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Hogs move on to the Sweet 16 to take on the winner of Gonzaga and Memphis.

Instant Analysis

Transition offense was a nightmare, as expected.

We tried to warn you! Our in-depth matchup analysis focused on New Mexico State’s insanely-good transition defense, and we advised the Hogs to not to try to run and instead win a halfcourt game. But the Hogs didn’t listen. As missed shots mounted, Arkansas continued to try to run and continued to get stuffed. The Aggies blocked four shots and took six charges, most of them in transition. We’ll have exact numbers on the disaster that was Arkansas transition offense in tomorrow’s Box Score Breakdown.

Notae has to know when to be a hero.

This was not Notae’s best game. Despite eight steals, he hurt Arkansas badly on offense. Notae scored 18 points, but required 18 field goal attempts, four trips to the free throw line, and six turnovers (four of them offensive fouls) in order to do so. Ball movement was very limited for long stretches of the game when he was in there. Stanley Umude (9 points) didn’t have a great game shooting, but the Hogs need another option when Notae isn’t playing well.

The Sweet 16 is still sweet.

That was an ugly game, but a win is a win and any win that advances you in the NCAA Tournament is a sweet one. The Hogs played tremendous team defense, forcing 19 turnovers and holding the Aggies’ excellent offensive rebounding unit to just five offensive boards.

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