Barford makes point with little scoring
At least three players have scored 10 or more points for the Arkansas Razorbacks in all 10 games this season.
For a change Saturday night in Verizon Arena, Jaylen Barford wasn’t one of them.
The 6-3 senior guard from Jackson, Tenn. — who came into the game averaging a team-high 19.9 points and shooting 50.8 percent (64 of 126) from the field — was uncharacteristically off.
Barford shot 2 of 11 from the field, including 1 of 5 on three-pointers, and finished with a season-low 7 points.
It was Barford’s lowest scoring total in 22 games, going back to Vanderbilt’s 72-59 victory over Arkansas in Walton Arena last season when he had five points. His previous scoring low this season had been 13 points at Houston.
But Barford proved against Troy he doesn’t need to score big to help the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville win in convincing fashion. The Razorbacks (82) beat the Trojans 88-63 in North Little Rock as Barford showed off his all-around game.
Barford led Arkansas with seven rebounds — matching his career high against Fresno State earlier this season — and five assists. He also had a steal and didn’t turn the ball over.
“Jaylen’s a great player,” said senior guard Daryl Macon, who led the Razorbacks with 25 points. “He’s not just a scorer. He can do it all on both ends, offense and defense.
“If he’s not scoring, he can find us. He can rebound, play defense. He’s got everything in his arsenal.”
Evidence of how Barford affected the game despite his low scoring is that according to the statbroadcast.com tracker, Arkansas outscored Troy by 21 points in the 30 minutes he was on the floor.
Barford’s plus-21 ranking
“Jaylen’s a great player. He’s not just a scorer. He can do it all on both ends, offense and defense.” Senior guard Daryl Macon
was the highest on the team. Macon was second at plus-17, with freshman forward Daniel Gafford and sophomore Adrio Bailey at plus-15.
Bailey and Gafford each scored 10 points.
Barford had an assist on Macon’s three-pointer that put Arkansas ahead to stay
at 10-8 after Troy (5-6) had jumped out to an 8-2 lead.
During the Razorbacks’ 21-2 run that pushed their lead to 41-21 with 4:18 left in
the first half, Barford had three assists, including a long pass to C.J. Jones for a dunk, an inbounds alley-oop to Bailey for a dunk and a pass to Macon for another three-pointer.
One of Barford’s few mistakes came when he missed a shot on a driving attempt after
he got out of control. The ball didn’t hit the rim, bouncing hard off of the backboard.
Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson let Barford know what he thought of that shot selection.
“I jumped him pretty good,” Anderson said. “But
for the most part, I think the way he played is a sign of a guy that’s becoming a complete player.
“Because now he’s doing other things than just putting the ball in the hole. I thought he played well. He just didn’t shoot well.”