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FAYETTEVILLE — In the midst of a 19-3 run that broke open the game, Adrio Bailey brought the house down with a thunderous put back dunk.

Although it energized the Bud Walton Arena crowd and his teammates on the way to a 66-43 win over North Texas, Bailey also earned a technical for hanging on the rim.

“It was kind of the heat of the moment,” Bailey said. “I apologized for my team for that. We don’t want those little cheap fouls, even though it wasn’t like a foul, foul.”

Head coach Eric Musselman didn’t seem too upset about it, though, and commended the 6-foot-6 senior for his complete performance against the Mean Green.

That even included knocking down a three-pointer from the corner that put the Razorbacks up by 10 late in a slugfest of a first half.

“He had his feet set, he didn’t get thirsty to take another one, really,” Musselman said. “I thought that that opened up the game for us a little bit when he knocked that down.”

Bailey did attempt another one early in the second half, which he missed, but Musselman said with a smile that he’d “live with it.”

Taking shots away from the basket is typically not a strength, even drawing some criticism from his coach after the Red-White game last month. However, Bailey insists his lack of shooting jumpers is his own decision.

“I haven’t been shooting it by choice because he never tells me not to shoot the ball,” Bailey said. “I just never shoot it because I try to play within my strengths, but he gives me that confidence to shoot the ball.”

He finished with 8 points on 3 of 4 shooting and five rebounds. Even more surprising were his team-high four steals, which were also the most of his career.

“Adrio’s probably a lot more natural power forward or 4-man than a 5, but when he plays the 5 spot, now he’s got quickness every night over the opponent’s 5,” Musselman said. “He’s got to out-quick the center every night and he’s got to sneak around get steals when they try to throw the ball into the post.”

Whitt’s Midrange

When points were tough to come by in a first half that ended with a 28-16 score, Jimmy Whitt Jr. provided a spark to Arkansas’ offense.

He went 4 of 6 from the floor and scored nine points, with most of his offense coming from his midrange game.

“We just kind of put the ball in Jimmy’s hands and let him back down a little bit kind of like Jason Kidd used to do,” Musselman said, “where we emptied out the whole right side and tried to play him out of the post a little bit and get right in that sweet spot for him, which is 8 to 12 feet.”