Arkansas forward Adou Thiero had a rough performance against Miami earlier this week, but he was a key part of the Razorbacks' (7-2, 0-0 SEC) 75-60 win over the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (3-5, 0-0 AAC) on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.
Thiero finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting and also hauled in 10 rebounds to give him the second double-double of his career. He was named the team MVP by KenPom and finished with an offensive rating of 148.0.
"I mean, we see it every day," Arkansas center Jonas Aidoo said postgame of Thiero's performance. "We know (Adou) can do it. We tell him, 'You’ve got to knock them free throws down.' That’s 30 points he’s leaving on the board, but he’s getting his confidence. He’s very strong. Physical driver, I mean, like, he’s a big part of this team, for sure."
Speaking of free throws, Thiero saw major improvement at the charity stripe on Saturday. He was aggressive in getting to the rim and drew 12 fouls, and he hit 10 of the 13 free throws he attempted.
Thiero's motor on Saturday kept Arkansas in the game and sparked the team in the second half. Down 32-27 as the two teams came out of the locker room, he scored five points in quick succession to tie things up.
The first bucket came from an alley-oop Thiero slammed home on an assist by Johnell Davis. Thiero was fouled on that play and he hit the free throw to bring the deficit to 32-30.
Moments later, Thiero got his only block of the game when UTSA guard Primo Spears drove to the basket and got denied.
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The next time down the floor, Arkansas guard Boogie Fland missed a three-pointer and the ball was deflected off the backboard and right into the hands of Thiero, who put it in the hoop to tie the game at 32.
UTSA tried to go right at the basket again the next time down the floor, and while Thiero didn't block the shot by Marcus Millender, Thiero disrupted it enough to force a miss.
"We’ve been seeing that the whole summer," Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile said postgame. "Him dominating. Dominating in practice and (head coach John Calipari) pushing him. This is just a reflection of the work he’s done this summer and him trusting the coaches."
The Razorbacks will need another strong performance from Thiero their next time out, as they'll face Michigan in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. That game will tip off at 8 p.m. and it will air on ESPN.
