Gafford, Harris shine as Hogs down visiting Montana State
FAYETTEVILLE — Following a first half filled with sprees of threes, Arkansas took the inside path via sophomore center Daniel Gafford and sophomore point guard Jalen Harris in the second half to bludgeon the Montana State Bobcats, 9068, Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas sophomore guard Mason Jones hit
5 of 7 first-half 3-pointers, including three while scoring 10 points by the 16:11 mark before a 16-0 Razorbacks run peaked Arkansas’ first half lead at 32-7.
Montana State senior guard Tyler Hall then sizzled. Hall hit 7 of 12 first-half threes and scored
23 first-half points to cut the lead down to 14 be-
FAYETTEVILLE — One of the shortest but possibly most resilient opponents Arkansas will face this season awaits the Razorbacks tonight at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas (3-1) will host the UT-Arlington Mavericks (3-2) at 7 p.m. The game will be available on the Razorbacks’ radio network and internet video through SEC Network Plus.
Tonight’s game will also finish Arkansas’ four games in the far-flung Hardwood Showcase. The Razorbacks began the Showcase on Nov. 12 by defeating UC-Davis (1-5), 81-58. They then edged the Indiana Hoosiers (4-1), 73-72, Sunday afternoon and routed the Montana State Bobcats (1-5), 90-68, Wednesday night.
Arlington defeated Davis, 68-59, on Sunday and lost, 78-64, Tuesday night at Indiana. The Mavericks started a 6-5 forward and four guards at 5-9, 5-11, 6-2 and 6-3.
They cut a 20-point deficit to one point before Indiana pulled away on 16-for-23 shooting at the free throw line. Arlington finished 8 of 10 on free throws.
“They’re a good basketball team,” said Arkansas head men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson. “We played them two years ago, and they were a tough out. They had a team that I think was coming back from the NCAA Tournament. They’ve got a good culture down there.”
Anderson cited Tuesday’s comeback by coach Chris Ogden’s Mavericks against the Hoosiers.
“They’re a tough team,” Anderson said. “They’ve got multiple guys that can shoot. So, we’re going to have to defend. I know that. I think it’s going to be a heck of a ballgame.”
Anderson said he liked the depth his bench provided against Indiana and Montana State, but Arlington displayed depth against Indiana. A 6-2 guard, Edric Dennis, led the Mavericks with 19 points against the Hoosiers, while 6-4 reserve guard David Azore scored 10 points.
Jabari Narcis is the only player on Mavericks’ roster taller than 6-5. The 6-9 forward led Arlington’s rebounding against Indiana with seven boards off of the bench.
Starting 5-9 guard Brian Warren leads the Mavericks in scoring with 17.6 per game, including 14 against Indiana. Starting 6-2 guard Radshad Davis averages 9.6 points and seven rebounds per game.
Arlington will likely be troubled by Arkansas’ 6-11 sophomore Preseason All-Southeastern Conference center Daniel Gafford, of El Dorado, unless they get him into foul trouble. He scored 20 points with a career-high 12 boards in a 73-71 loss to Texas (4-0) to start the season.
Gafford had a career-high 27 points with 12 boards against Indiana and held a dunkathon against Montana State on Wednesday. He tied his own Arkansas record by shooting 8-for-8 from the field while the Hogs dished 29 assists, including 11 by point guard Jalen Harris, who also had 11 points.
“With us sharing the ball, that’s basically easy buckets because we’re finding the open man,” Gafford said. fore Arkansas (3-1) led, 54-38, at intermission.
In the second half, with Jones adding only two to his 16 first-half points and Hall 0-for3 on second-half threes adding just six second-half points for his game high 29, the 6-11 Gafford hit 5-for-5 from field, finishing a 8-for-8 night and tying his own school record in game shooting percentage.
Gafford excelled in both halves, but especially in the second, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes. Harris double-doubled with 11 points and 11 assists with just one turnover in 25 minutes.
Razorbacks Adrio Bailey, the junior forward hitting 5-for-5 from the field inside, and freshman guard Isaiah Joe of Fort Smith Northside, even on an off-shooting night hitting just
4-for-13 with 2-for-10 on treys, scored 10 each.
Joe and freshman reserve guard Desi Sills each contributed five assists among Arkansas’
29 for the game. Freshman reserve forward Reggie Chaney, eight points and five rebounds in 18 minutes, played so well in the first half that Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson rewarded him with a second-half start.
Anderson’s Razorbacks are now 3-0 in the Hardwood Classic, which concludes today as Arkansas hosts UT-Arlington
(3-2) at 7 p.m. The Classic included an 81-58 victory over UC-Davis (1-5) and a 73-72 win over Indiana (4-1) with both games at Bud Walton.
Arlington lost, 78-64, Tuesday night at Indiana. Montana State lost its Hardwood Classic game to the Hoosiers, 80-35, on Nov. 9 in Bloomington, Ind.
Anderson said he feared the Razorbacks were too emotionally high from Sunday’s thriller over prestigious Indiana to properly concentrate against Montana State. Those fears were immediately allayed by Arkansas’ hot start.
“Really proud of the energy that these guys generated today,” Anderson said. “They generated it early on because they made shots, but I thought our defense was really on point, really making it difficult for Montana State.
“Eventually they found a nice little groove, and of course a lot of that effort is attributed to the Hall kid. He was hitting them from out at Al Dillard range.”
Dillard was known for shooting deep 3-pointers when Anderson was an assistant on Nolan Richardson’s 1994 national championship team.
“He started really knocking down shots, but I thought in the second half we did a better job really adjusting and making him continue to work,” Anderson said.
Hall sizzled that first half but burned a lot of energy those 18 minutes that caught up to him in the second half. It also helped Anderson pointedly put out an intermission warning regarding Hall’s second-half whereabouts.
“Coach said we had to find him,” Harris said. “We changed up our defense a little bit. We knew we had to find him every time down the court because that’s who they were trying to get it to.”
“He started out really on fire,” Anderson said. “He was knocking shots down and making nice assists.”
Like Hall, Jones was too hot in the first half not to cool down in the second but still played a role, Anderson said. His second-half minutes were cut to eight from the first half’s
13 with tonight’s game looming. “Even the second half, I thought he did a good job distributing it to other guys,” Anderson said. “He played 21 minutes with 18 points.”
“Mason has a nose for the ball, so if you are not following him or have your head on a swivel, he’s going to get open,” Harris said. “And if he gets open, then it’s trouble.”
It was big, big trouble for the Bobcats with the Razorbacks finding Gafford down low. He is now shooting 31-for41, 75.6 percent, through the first four games.
“It’s ridiculous,” Harris said. “You get it to him down there, and you know there’s a good possibility he’ll make them. So, you keep feeding him.” Assists come with it. “Jalen Harris, I told him before the year, ‘You are going to be one of the top assists leaders in the country, man,’” Anderson said.
“You’ve got a big guy with great hands. I think they are starting to connect. I think Daniel is connecting with all of our guys, and they know what he brings to the table. He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Defense initiated the offense. Arkansas outscored Montana State, 29-9, off of turnovers, forcing the Bobcats in 24 miscues while only committing 14.