FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks (4-1, 0-0 SEC) allowed a large advantage at halftime to dwindle to just seven points before they pulled away to beat the Little Rock Trojans (3-3, 0-0 OVC) 79-67 on Friday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks started the game fast and strong both offensively and defensively, and used five turnovers to jump out to an 11-0 lead that would later extend to 39-19 with just under three minutes before the half and 42-24 before the two teams went to the locker rooms.
But in the second half, sloppy play evidenced by 12 Arkansas turnovers allowed the Trojans to make several dents in that lead and make the game much more difficult for the Hogs than expected.
"Thank goodness it’s November, and again, you have a chance to put somebody away, and you mess around," Arkansas head coach John Calipari said postgame. "So at half, instead of being up bigger and bigger, we’re up 18. So the first five minutes of the half set the tone for the rest of the game. First play, what did we do? We gave them a layup under the basket."
In the first half, it seemed as though Arkansas was in for an easy night. Freshman guard Boogie Fland didn't miss any of his five shots and had five assists and two rebounds. Forward Adou Thiero was also perfect on his three attempts and had three steals and a block to his name.
"They’ve got a good team," Little Rock head coach Darrell Walker said postgame. "Do they have more talent than us? Absolutely. But I knew we could compete better. That first five or six minutes of the game we were a deer in headlights. We were terrified for no reason."
But when the teams came out of the locker rooms for the final 20 minutes, Arkansas looked like a different team. Fland was 1-for-6, that lone make a three-pointer that essentially thwarted a final comeback attempt by the Trojans. The Razorbacks turned the ball over 12 times and the Trojans took advantage with 14 points off those turnovers.
Thiero still looked good, as he scored 16 points, but he was also responsible for four of those 12 turnovers. He said fatigue and undisciplined play, driven in part by a lack of depth, played a role in the Hogs' second-half struggles.
"That plays a part in it, but at the same time — I’m not trying to use this as an excuse — but we got like seven people who play right now," Thiero said. "We’re waiting on our two bigs to come back. I know me myself, I’ll be a little tired out there, still trying to push through, but we’ve just got to keep grinding. We’ll figure it out."
Thiero also said even though the Hogs got out with a win, there are things to take from the game and continue to grow.
"I think it's like an eye opener for us — not really eye opener — but just us being able to see how much we're developing, coming together as a team, our team chemistry being built," Thiero said. "I don't think there's bad wins or anything, but you can always take something from a win or a loss, and I feel like we were just going to keep learning and keep growing together as a team."
The Razorbacks' next chance to show that growth will come on Monday as Arkansas hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will stream only on SEC Network-Plus.
