FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas head men's basketball coach Mike Anderson's young Razorbacks started particularly dreadful on Friday against Division II Tusculum.
Arkansas trailed, 7-0, shooting 0-for-5 while outrebounded, 7-2, in the first four minutes of Friday's exhibition game. Given the team's youth, Anderson kept his cool.
And, indeed, Arkansas' night ended far better. A 66-point second half built on a 30-24 halftime lead for a 96-47 victory.
The home Hogs only led, 44-26, by 15:52 of the second stanza.
"Now you see why I say I have got to have some patience with this group here," Anderson said. "Obviously, there are some talented guys, but this was their first game against a team other than themselves. And that first half was stage fright. Nerves were going. We ended up having 13 turnovers and they were turning it over, too.
"It was a turnover-thon. That's what it was. But I thought in the second half we kind of settled down and played much better basketball. I thought the ball was moving and people were moving. We had five assists at half and we ended up with 23. So, that tells me that we really moved the basketball."
They also hit 13 of 19 second-half free throws after netting but 8 of 20 first-half freebies. They finished up, 53-41, on the boards after Tusculum outrebounded them, 23-22, in the first half.
Arkansas freshman guard and Fort Smith Northside alum Isaiah Joe led all scorers with 18 points, including 5 of 8 threes. The rookie guard that Anderson calls "really smooth and never gets rattled," confirmed Anderson calmly instructed rather than berated the team at halftime.
"He keeps a level head," Joe said. "He's good at getting his point across, so we listened to him and took everything in and came out ready in the second half after all the words he gave us."
Sophomore point guard Jalen Harris, sophomore center Daniel Gafford, freshman Reggie Chaney and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson tallied 13 points each. Harris had seven assists, Gafford was troubled with fouls and Chaney picked up much of the slack with 10.
"Reggie came off the bench and gave us a big spark," Anderson said. "Daniel got in foul trouble. He's got to understand he's going to be a big target. He is going to have to learn how to play with that. It was good to see our guys in the second half when Daniel was not there, the lead just kind of surged and I thought it was because of our defense."
The Hogs took a 14-12 lead in the first half lead by 10:12 and never trailed again. For the first 20 minutes, the Razorbacks shot 10-for-28 from the field with only 2 of 11 treys.
Worse, they committed 13 first-half turnovers and played the half's final 8:53 with sophomore Preseason All-Southeastern Conference center Gafford benched by three fouls. Gafford's first half stats consisted of two points, a rebound, an assist and a turnover in eight minutes compounded by his quick fourth foul in the second half.
Fortunately for the Hogs, a combination of their defense and the Pioneers' sloppiness created 19 first-half Tusculum turnovers, allowing the Razorbacks to get ahead and stay there.
Gafford picked up his fourth foul, a cheapie trying to establish position, at 18:40 of the second half, but returned and nearly recorded a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds.
Joe cushioned the star's exit after his fourth foul with a foul-inducing 3-pointer for the fourth foul on Tusculum senior Austin Hall. Joe then hit the free throw to finish off the four-point play.
Donovan Donaldson led Greeneville, Tenn., based Tusculum, the oldest university in Tennessee, with 11 points.
Arkansas plays its second and final exhibition game against another small college opponent, Southwest Baptist, on Friday at 7 p.m. again at Bud Walton.
Sports on 10/28/2018