Arkansas blows out Bucknell, 32-4
HD VIDEO: Postgame | Arkansas 32, Bucknell 4
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Arkansas led Texas A&M most of the first half and was ahead by double digits most of the second as the Razorbacks wiped the floor with the Aggies 94-75 in front of 18,097 in attendance Saturday afternoon in Bud Walton Arena
Arkansas' big three got the job done against the Aggies as Jaylen Barford led the Hogs with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Daryl Macon scored 20 and Daniel Gafford scored 18 with 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. This was a redemption game as the Hogs fell to A&M 80-66 on Jan. 30 in the first meeting at College Station.
“Playing them here, in my mind, I had to play smarter and more physical,” Gafford said after the game. “In my mind, I’m ready for them. I’m ready for Tyler Davis and all their big men. In my mind, I got punked when we went down there.”
“Barford made some stuff as an individual,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “Every game is so different. We scored 66 points down there. That tells you their defense is pretty good. Today, we made shots…In this game here, fatigue was a factor.”
In the first half, after taking a 5-4 lead with 18:08 to play, Arkansas (19-8, 8-6 SEC) led the remainder of the game and went up by as many as 13 points, 35-22, with 4:57 to play on a 3-pointer by Anton Beard. The Hogs led 43-32 at halftime with Gafford putting back a missed Macon 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Gafford led the Hogs with 10 points and 4 rebounds at the break.
Arkansas got off to a 13 of 17 start from the floor in the second half (76.7 percent) to take a 16-point lead, 73-55 with 9:11 to play. That tied their largest lead of the game at the time. Gafford was 6 of 6 from the floor at that point with 16 total points to lead the Hogs. The Razorbacks led by double figures the rest of the way.
“Not many teams are going to come in here and beat Arkansas when they shoot the way they did today,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “I thought Arkansas was really good offensively, made a lot of tough shots and got scoring from everyone that played for them it seemed like.”
Arkansas connected on 35 of 71 shots from the floor, including 10 of 23 from 3-point range. They were 14 of 22 from the free throw line (63.6 percent). The Hogs won the turnover battle 13-9 and surprisingly out-rebounded A&M an impressive 45-33. The Aggies lead the SEC at 41.9 rebounds per game. Arkansas is 12th at 35.0 per game.
“The defense was good, but the ending part of defense is rebounding the basketball,” Anderson said. “This is a team that beat us by 15 at their place. They’re one of the best rebounding teams in the league and in the country with their size.”
Robert Williams led the Aggies (17-10, 6-8 SEC) with 20 points on 10 of 13 shooting to go with 14 rebounds. For the game, A&M was 24 of 55 on field goals (43.6 percent), 4 of 17 from deep (23.5 percent) and 23 of 35 from the line (76.5 percent).
The win moves Arkansas into a tie for third place in the SEC with Mizzouri, Alabama and Florida. Arkansas improved to 11-0 against the Aggies in Bud Walton Arena since 1986. The Hogs are now 35-6 in their last 41 games inside Bud Walton Arena, and they have now won four games in a row.
UP NEXT...
Up next, the Razorbacks host the Kentucky Wildcats (18-9, 7-7 SEC) in the only scheduled meeting between the two teams in the regular season conference slate.
SECOND HALF
Texas A&M trimmed a 43-32 halftime lead down to 7 points, 45-38, with 18:37 to play in the game on a 3-point play from T.J.Starks. Starting at the 15:56 mark, Gafford scored 4 quick points to jumpstart a 9-1 run, and then Macon hit a pair of 3-pointers as Arkansas made it a 16-point lead, 60-44, with 13:30 to play. The Hogs started 13 of 17 from the floor (76.7 percent) on their way to a 73-55 lead with 9:11 to play.
A crossover fade-away 3-pointer from Barford at the top of the key gave the Razorbacks their largest lead of the game at the time, 18 points, with a 77-59 advantage and 7:21 remaining. That bucket gave Barford 16 points and 5 rebounds in 28 minutes on the floor.
Barford scored 8 points (his final 8 points) over a 2 minute and 55 second period. A long-armed dunk by Gafford made it 87-69 with 3:53 to go. Gafford would have given the Hogs their largest lead at 19, but he missed the attached free throw.
After a 3-pointer from Chris Collins cut the lead to 12 points with 2:33 to play, 87-75, the Razorbacks scored the final 7 points and finished off the Aggies with a 19-point win, 94-75.
FIRST HALF
Arkansas fell behind 4-2 with 18:32 to play and then went on a 11-0 run over a span of 2 minutes and 21 seconds to take a 9-point lead, 13-4, off a layup by Gabe Osabuohien with 15:47 to play. Barford already had a pair of 3-pointers at that point.
A&M came right back and cut the Arkansas lead to 2 points thanks to a 12-3 response to put it at 16-14 with 11:52 remaining in the half. A&M’s answer lasted 3 minutes and 39 seconds and was highlighted by a pair of dunks from Admon Gilder.
It was an 18-16 Arkansas lead with 11:31 to go in the half, and then C.J. Jones chipped in 6 quick points during an 10-3 stretch that gave the Hogs another 9-point lead, 28-19 with 7:41 to play, over a span of 3 minutes and 50 seconds.
Arkansas pushed the lead out to 11 points, 32-21, on a pair of free throws by Gafford with 5:18 to go. Starting with two free throws from Jones to make it a 20-16 Arkansas lead at the 10:29 mark, Arkansas outscored the Aggies 17-6 to take a 13-point lead, 22-35 with 4:57 to play.
Right after entering the game for the first time, Arkansas’ Arlando Cook turned the ball over and subsequently committed a foul on Gilder, and then Macon was tagged with a flagrant 1 foul that sent Gilder to the free throw line.
The final 2:05 after a dunk by Williams cut it to an 8-point game, 35-27, Arkansas outscored the Aggies 8-5 thanks to a last-second layup by Gafford to make it 43-32 at the break. Gafford led Arkansas with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
The Razorbacks were 16 of 34 from the floor, 4 of 12 from 3-point range (33.3 percent) and 7 of 10 from the foul line. Led by Williams with 10 points, 8 rebounds and a pair of blocks, the Aggies were 11 of 26 (42.3 percent), 0 of 7 from 3-point range and 10 of 18 from the line (55.6 percent).
