No. 10 Arkansas stomps UNC Asheville without Nick Smith Jr.
The Razorbacks finished off the 2022 non-conference slate in style Wednesday night, defeating the UNC Asheville Bulldogs 85-51.
Minutes before tipoff, a UA spokesperson announced Nick Smith Jr. would be out indefinitely, leaving the Hogs without their star freshman guard. It appeared not to matter Wednesday, though, as four different scorers reached double digits.
In an unusual occurrence, senior forward Jalen Graham led the team in scoring. He finished with 16 points on 8-10 shooting, three rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes. Guards Ricky Council IV, Anthony Black and Joseph Pinion scored 12, 10 and 10, respectively.
With the win, Arkansas improved to 11-1 in its last game before the beginning of SEC play.
Here is how the Hogs took down UNC Asheville:
The Bulldogs won the tipoff and turned it into points, but it was all Arkansas from the second possession on. The Razorbacks built a 10-point lead before the game was five minutes old, and four different players found the bottom of the net.
Jordan Walsh, who posted a career-high 18 points Saturday against Bradley, checked out just past the four-minute mark with two fouls to his name, paving the way for Kamani Johnson to rack up some minutes. The senior forward picked up three steals, a pair of assists and a rebound over the next six minutes, fostering a 17-5 run that forced UNC Asheville to call its first timeout.
Arkansas led 28-9 halfway through the first period, at which point Council, Graham and Makhi Mitchell all had six points.
Black headed to the bench with his second foul shortly after the 10-minute mark, prompting freshman Derrian Ford to make an appearance in the first half. With the unusual rotation on the floor so early, nearly four minutes passed without a Razorback field goal.
Fortunately for Arkansas, that span overlapped with five minutes without a UNC Asheville field goal. The Bulldogs finally got a bucket to bounce in with just over eight minutes to go, cutting the Razorback advantage to 16 points.
Graham snapped the Hogs’ scoring drought with his fourth bucket of the half, followed shortly thereafter by another layup. With 10 points and a perfect shooting percentage, the Arizona State transfer sat back down in favor of Makhi Mitchell after eight minutes.
A little over 16 minutes into the half, Pinion made his presence known with a corner 3-pointer that grew the Razorbacks’ lead to 43-18. UNC Asheville closed the opening period on a 6-1 run, shrinking the gap to 20 points at the intermission. The Hogs missed their last four field goal attempts and turned it over three times in the last 3:23.
Arkansas quickly snapped out of its lull in the second half, opening with an 8-2 run. Council added to his 10-point first half with a layup during that stretch.
Makhel Mitchell got himself onto the scoresheet for the first time since Nov. 28 to counter a 7-2 UNC Asheville run about five minutes into the frame. The Bulldogs responded with a layup, but consecutive 3-pointers by Pinion and Black stretched the lead back to 25 points.
Black hit a pair of free throws, improving to 4-6 on the night to go with his two triples for his eighth double-digit performance of the season.
Graham continued to unleash his scoring prowess, notching three baskets in just over three minutes, including a one-handed slam on a two-on-one with Pinion. All the while, the Hogs went back-and-forth between 28- and 30-point cushions.
With less than five minutes to play, Makhel Mitchell and Pinion teamed up for a quick 8-0 run and a 35-point lead. The former sank a pair of free throws and a layup, and the latter threw down two dunks to reach 10 points for the first time in his young career.
Following the subsequent media timeout, the rest of the reserves — Barry Dunning Jr., Cade Arbogast and Lawson Blake — took to the court to close the contest out.
Next up for the Razorbacks are the LSU Tigers at 8 p.m. next Wednesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN2 and stream live on the ESPN app.