The Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2, 0-0 SEC) got Jonas Aidoo's best performance of the year on Saturday in the Hogs' 95-67 win over the North Carolina A&T Aggies (3-10, 0-1 CAA) at Bud Walton Arena.
The preseason All-SEC center logged his first double-double of the season as he scored 17 points and hauled in 11 rebounds (six defensive and five offensive). He also added two assists, three blocks and a steal.
"It’s great, but as long as we got the win, that’s all that matters," Aidoo said after the game of his performance. "I just want to help the team win. Do what I can and just go into conference play doing the same thing."
More impressive, Aidoo isn't even 100% healthy yet. He said after the game he's somewhere around 80 to 85% health from an injury that sidelined him for most of the offseason and the majority of the season so far.
"You saw the physical play at the rim, he can do that," Arkansas head coach John Calipari said after the game. "My guess is he's about 80% right now, maybe 85, but no way he’s at 100% and that's why I'm telling him when you come back, you got to step on the gas. Even if you have to play less, don't play as many minutes, going for three, four minutes at a time. And then in that time, he has a huge impact on the game."
Aidoo made his presence felt early and often on Saturday. He won the opening tip and just seconds later got to the rim, drew a foul and got the bucket as well. He scored seven of the Hogs' first 12 points and had all three of his blocks in the first four minutes of the game.
Points down low were a point of emphasis for the team during practice last week, Calipari said. Aidoo finished with 17 of the Hogs' 52 points that came at the rim.
While the outcome of Saturday's game wasn't in doubt, Calipari said it was a hard game because of the Christmas break the team will go on, coupled with the fact that North Carolina A&T's guards are very capable scorers.
"Game before Christmas, they're all ready to go," Calipari said. "Coaches are ready to go, everybody's ready to go, and you’ve got to play a team that has really good guards and they could go crazy on you. I thought the first half we did some good things. We had a couple let downs, but it's hard being up 25 or 30 and playing, just so you know. Just hard, and especially when you're like, ‘Keep running clock, we're going home.’"
The Razorbacks will have the next few days off for the holiday before they reconvene on the Dec. 26 in preparation for Oakland. Aidoo said he's more worried about his teammates coming back from the break than he is for himself.
"I’ve been through a couple breaks already," Aidoo said. "I mean, for me, I missed about four months. This is a little break for me, so I’m not too worried about coming back and what’s going to happen, but I kind of worry about the team, a little bit, because we’ve got some young guys. We’re going to see how it all plays out, for sure."
Arkansas and Oakland will tip off at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 30 from Bud Walton Arena. The game will air on ESPN2.
