Arkansas cruises to win in second exhibition

FAYETTEVILLE - Again playing their second verse far better than their first, Arkansas’ so-far second half Hogs accelerated the game’s Friday night final 20 minutes to finish their preseason exhibition schedule 2-0 at Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks romped 10063 over the Southwest Baptist Bearcats with a big second half Friday night much like the previous Friday night when they jumped from a 30-24 first half to a 96-47 rout of Tusculum University.

The Razorbacks outscored the Bearcats 70-39 en route to victory. Their two exhibitions complete over the lower Division II small colleges that NCAA allows Division I teams to play, coach Mike Anderson’s Razorbacks officially open their season next Friday against the Texas Longhorns at 6 p.m. on ESPN playing at the Fort

Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas.

Avoiding the early foul trouble that plagued him last week, Arkansas sophomore star center Daniel Gafford of El Dorado double-doubled with 17 points and 12 rebounds and blocked three shots.

However, his free throw shooting raised concerns.

Gafford just sank one of his first seven before finally sinking consecutive free throws to finish 3-of9.

Sophomore junior college transfer guard Mason Jones also scored 17.

Jones’ 10 led Arkansas’ first half.

Freshman guard and Fort Smith Northside alum Isaiah Joe scored 16 while hitting 4-of-8 treys.

Southwest Baptist only led once, 2-1, during the first half, but other than getting up 14 with 5:51 left, the Razorbacks couldn’t break it open.

In fact, the Bearcats closed to just down 36-30 with two minutes left before two Desi Sills free throws at 1:49 and a Gafford dunk with 38 seconds left put the Hogs back up double digits for their 40-30 intermission advantage.

A 12-0 early second half Razorbacks run including consecutive Joe 3-pointers turned the once close game into a rout.

Arkansas achieved its 100th point thanks to freshman Ethan Henderson’s breakaway dunk that just beat the clock to finish the scoring.