Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas tidies up free-throw shooting
ARKANSAS 78, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 60
FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas men’s basketball team made 59.6 percent of its free-throw attempts through four games, but the Razorbacks found the line to their liking Friday night against Texas-Arlington.
The Razorbacks made 34 of 46 free-throw attempts (73.9 percent) in a 78-60 victory over the Mavericks in front of 8,317 at Walton Arena.
Arkansas (4-1) won its fourth consecutive game since a season-opening loss to Texas in overtime Nov. 9. All four victories were part of the Hardwood Showcase.
The Razorbacks started 3 of 9 from the line, then made eight consecutive near the end of the first half. After halftime,
the Hogs made 20 of 25.
Daniel Gafford, a 46.4 percent free-throw shooter coming into the game, made 9 of 10 attempts. He scored a game-high 21 points despite not playing the final 9:26 after committing his fourth foul.
“You get the repetition in and the next thing you know, you get familiar with what you need to do on the free-throw line,” Gafford said. “Tonight I went 9 for 10, and I remember everything I did before I shot the ball.
“I make sure I get every day after practice at least 100 free throws. That helps, and if you see one go in, it builds your confidence.”
The free-throw shooting offset a tough shooting night from the floor for the Razorbacks, who made 21 of 55 overall and 2 of 16 from threepoint range.
“It wasn’t a great display of offense for either team … so now you have to go and find a way to win the game, and lo and behold it’s at the freethrow line,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “We shot 46 free throws. That’s a lot of free throws, but we weren’t doing a good job of
scoring outside, so I thought we did a good job of attacking them and got some of their core players in foul trouble.”
Texas-Arlington committed 34 fouls, and first-year Mavericks Coach Chris Ogden was assessed a technical foul with 5:27 to play. Many of the fouls were on shooting attempts for the Razorbacks, who made nearly twice as many free throws as the Mavericks (18 of 27).
“I thought the difference in the game was the freethrow line,” Ogden said. “We just fouled too much. They shot a lot more and made a lot more free throws than we attempted.”
Ogden said he was surprised to see the Razorbacks shoot so well at the line. Prior to Friday, Arkansas’ season-best performance at the line was 65.9 percent (27 of 41) in a victory over California-Davis on Nov. 12.
“I thought they could have missed a couple for us the day after Thanksgiving,” Ogden said.
Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the first half. The Mavericks (3-3) missed their first eight field-goal attempts and were 5 of 23 before a late spurt helped close the Razorbacks’ lead to 31-26 at halftime.
The Mavericks finished 18 of 55 overall and 6 of 27 from three-point range. Ogden said his players missed a number of open looks, but Anderson praised his team’s defense, which blocked multiple shots on the perimeter and affected several others with its length.
“Defense was the difference in this game,” Anderson said. “I mean, think about it: The tempo was at their pace and we were able to score 78 points, and a lot of that came from the free-throw line.”
Texas-Arlington pulled within 41-37 at the first media timeout of the second half, but Arkansas answered with a 10-2 run that was punctuated by Reggie Chaney’s dunk off a missed layup by Isaiah Joe, which pushed the Razorbacks’ lead to 51-39 with 12:10 to play.
The Mavericks never got closer than seven points afterward.
Jalen Harris and Adrio Bailey each scored 14 points for the Razorbacks, and Joe added 10. Edric Dennis scored 19 points to lead Texas-Arlington, but his minutes were limited after he committed his fourth foul with 15:54 remaining.
Two Mavericks fouled out and four others, including Dennis, finished with
four fouls. Gabe Osabuohien fouled out for Arkansas, and Gafford and Mason Jones each had four fouls.
The 59 combined fouls were the most in an Arkansas game since 60 were called during the Razorbacks’ overtime victory over Kentucky on Jan. 14, 2014.