Hogs have something in reserve

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Arkansas Razorbacks received their usual strong offensive production from standouts Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford and Daniel Gafford on Saturday against Alabama.

But the Razorbacks needed key contributions from role players such as C.J. Jones, Dustin Thomas and Adrio Bailey to hold off the Crimson Tide 76-73 for their third SEC road victory.

Jones broke out of an extended shooting slump with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting while playing in front of a large array of friends and family who came over from his hometown of Birmingham, Ala.

Thomas scored a seasonhigh 11 points, including six in a row for the Hogs during a late-game stretch.

Bailey, who had played sparingly recently while battling the flu, contributed 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting and had 5 rebounds.

“We had guys coming off the bench and giving us great, great contributions,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Mike Anderson said.

Jones had been 1 of 16 from three-point range in his past seven games, and he was 11 of 32 from the floor in that span. But the sophomore sensed he might have a breakout game near the home folks.

“I had a pretty good shoot-around, so I thought this might be the game I might break out and I did,” Jones said on the Arkansas postgame radio show. “My teammates were finding me. They set out to find me and give me open looks, so I was just playing my game.”

Jones’ three-pointer at the 13:15 mark gave the Hogs a 16-7 lead. He went on to hit all three of his three-point shots.

“On the scouting report, he showed up as one of their best shooters,” Alabama guard John Petty said. “He’s a shooter, and all shooters go through slumps. He came out tonight and made a couple of threes.”

Jones said his family and friends probably accounted for half of the Arkansas fans in attendance.

“Being from Alabama, I wanted to show them what they missed out on, but I am glad to be a Razorback,” Jones said.