The No. 10 Razorbacks rectified their loss in North Little Rock last season with a 76-57 victory over the Bradley Braves on Saturday at Simmons Bank Arena, marking their 10th win of the campaign.
With no television broadcast or stream available, radio broadcasters Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman kept uttering one word to tell the story of the contest — turnovers. Bradley coughed it up a whopping 27 times, generating 37 Arkansas points. Davonte Davis and Jordan Walsh shined the brightest for the Razorbacks defensively, as they combined for nine steals.
Walsh also led the way offensively, notching a career-best 18 points fresh off what head coach Eric Musselman called his best performance of the season last week against Oklahoma. Ricky Council IV and Anthony Black joined the freshman forward in double digits, with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Here is how the Razorbacks improved their all-time record in North Little Rock to 13-10:
The Braves opened the scoring 30 seconds into the contest, but they went cold over the next 2 ½ minutes. They turned it over three times during that stretch, allowing the Hogs to go on a 6-0 run.
Bradley reclaimed the lead with a 5-0 run, but Nick Smith Jr. hit a 3-pointer for the third lead change of the first six minutes. At the first media timeout, the Razorbacks clung to a 9-7 margin, thanks in part to six Braves turnovers.
Two minutes went by without any scoring, but Walsh almost single-handedly changed the narrative on back-to-back possessions. He stole the ball on the defensive end and threw it down on the other, stretching the lead to four points. Davis recorded a steal of his own and got it right back to Walsh for another dunk 12 seconds later, forcing Bradley to use its first timeout.
Arkansas built the lead to 17-7 before the Braves could find the bottom of the net again, nearly six minutes after their last points. One free throw was no match for a Walsh triple however, as the freshman vaulted his point total to 11 before that many minutes had elapsed.
The Hogs hit a dry spell longer than two minutes after that, but they led Bradley 20-12 at the under-eight media timeout, at which point the Braves had the same number of points and turnovers.
Walsh checked out at the 5:11 mark of the first half, walking off to a standing ovation. His 16 points accounted for 64% of the Razorbacks’ scoring.
The two teams went back-and-forth over the next two minutes, exchanging free throws, a Bradley triple and two Anthony Black layups. With three minutes to go in the opening frame, the Hogs had as many points off turnovers as the Braves had points — 21 — and led by 11.
Nearly two minutes went by without any points, but the back-and-forth affair continued in the final 100 seconds. Arkansas took a 37-25 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
The Razorbacks grew their lead to 14 on their first possession of the second half, as an offensive foul against the Braves begat a Makhi Mitchell dunk. The teams traded 5-0 runs, and Bradley called its second timeout almost five minutes in.
The Braves cut the deficit to 12 before the Hogs went on a 10-0 run. Three-pointers by Council and Davis sandwiched baskets from the latter and Walsh, and Bradley called its third timeout after the margin topped 20.
The officials took over the game following the under-12 timeout, as the teams combined to shoot eight free throws in the first minute back from the break. Despite reaching double digits for the seventh time this season, Black was the only shooter to miss a shot during the sluggish sequence, and the Hogs emerged with a 61-40 advantage.
With just over seven minutes left in regulation, the officials called Walsh for a flagrant foul, marking the end of his career day. He finished a perfect 7-7 from the floor including a 3-pointer, tacked on 3-4 free throw attempts, three rebounds, one assist, four steals and five fouls in 28 minutes.
Bradley sank three of the resulting free throws to shrink the margin to 17 points, but the Hogs responded with five of their own over the next minute. Council went 4-4, improving his total to 7-8, and Black added another.
Makhi Mitchell joined Walsh on the bench with five fouls with about four minutes to play. The Rhode Island transfer posted just six points, three boards and two assists in 17 minutes.
Up 75-57 with about 90 seconds to go, Musselman emptied the bench, rolling out Joseph Pinion, Derrian Ford and Barry Dunning Jr., who drained a free throw. Cade Arbogast and Lawson Blake rounded out the reserve squad in the final minute, and they held on for the victory.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to return to Bud Walton Arena at 8 p.m. Wednesday, when they will take on the UNC Asheville Bulldogs. It will mark the last game before the SEC schedule gets underway, and it will be broadcast on the SEC Network and stream live on the ESPN app.
