Second-half blowout sends Hogs past Roadrunners
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks seldom found it easy going against Rod Barnes when he coached the Ole Miss Rebels from 1998– 2006.
For the first half Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena, it was not easy for Arkansas with Barnes coaching the California State University, Bakersfield Roadrunners (7-8) either. But after the Roadrunners erased an 11-point lead before ultimately trailing only 42-38 at intermission, Arkansas detonated in a second-half blowout, running over the Roadrunners, 95-68.
Arkansas’ final nonconference tuneup improved coach Mike Anderson’s Razorbacks to 10-2 going into their Southeastern Conference opener against No. 19 Tennessee at noon on Saturday at Bud Walton.
“A good win,” Anderson said. “The second half was much better than the first half. Our defensive intensity picked up, and we got in a rhythm. Give Rod Barnes’ team credit. They wouldn’t go away, but I thought, with our bench, fatigue became a factor.”
Successive threes by Arkansas senior guards Daryl Macon, of Little Rock Parkview, and Anton Beard, of North Little Rock, early in the second half ignited Arkansas’ second-half fireworks, which also featured an eight-point spree by senior guard Jaylen Barford from 6:09 to 5:05.
Barford and Beard both had hot hands and, apparently, hot tempers too, as each was hit with a technical foul.
“I‘m going to watch the tape and make sure what happened,” Anderson said. “I’m sure it wasn’t one-side, but our guys got caught, and you can’t have that. Guys get to jawing, but there’s no place for that. We gave away six or seven points. We will address that.”
For the game, Barford scored 19, Macon had 16 with eight assists and Beard scored 15. Arkansas freshman forward Daniel Gafford, of El Dorado, grabbed a game-leading 12 rebounds.
Off the bench, Arkansas freshman forward Darious Hall scored a career-high 14 points. Senior forward Dustin Thomas scored all 10 of his points in the first half to keep Arkansas ahead at intermission.
“Dustin Thomas, I thought, was the difference maker in the first half,” Anderson said. “He was the one actually making shots. We had some wide open shots, but we didn’t make them, but in the second half we had much better rhythm.”
Although hitting but 3 of 11 from the field, guard Jarkel Joiner led the Roadrunners with 12 points, while Justin Davis and Rickey Holden scored 11 each. Arkansas swiping 11 of CSBU’s 17 turnovers in the second half triggered the second-half blowout. For the game, Arkansas outscored CSBU 24-9 on turnovers.
Shon Briggs’ game-opening trey gave the Roadrunners to their one and only lead of the game. Arkansas, fueled by successive Gafford dunks, answered with a 10-0 run capped by Thomas’ follow shot after a Macon steal.
Arkansas fans figured on the Razorbacks running off another rout like their last four lopsided victories over Colorado State, Minnesota, Troy and Oral Roberts. Instead, after the Arkansas lead peaked at 11, the Roadrunners battled just like Barnes’ Ole Miss teams used to do at Bud Walton.
Joiner’s trey tied the game at 38-38 with 2:11 remaining in the first half before Trey Thompson’s
tip-in of a missed trey by Hall put Arkansas up
40-38. Two Macon free throws with 17 seconds left completed Arkansas’ 42-38 first half. Thomas’
10-point first-half led Arkansas into intermission. Thompson, the Madison native and 6-9 senior big man graduate of Forrest City, provided a nice first half with four points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in 11 minutes. Barford, sitting out most of the half’s final 7:20 with his second foul, also hindered the Hogs. In the second half, his 12 points more than hindered the Roadrunners.
Briggs was the most foul-troubled with three at intermission and amassing his fourth with 11:52 left in the game to finish with nine points. Arkansas’ attention now turns to Tennessee. “We’re getting to the conference race, and we have to make sure we do our due diligence and take care of home,” Anderson said. “Tennessee is playing awfully well.”