Hogs Overcome Sloppy First Half to Score Season High in Win

Points in paint difference in easy win over UCA on Wednesday night

FINAL STATS

KEY PLAYER WATCH

• J.D. Notae came in averaging 19.5 ppg for Arkansas. He finished with 10.

• Stanley Umude led Arkansas with 17 points.

• UCA’s scoring leader, former Bryant Hornet Camren Hunter, finished with 12 points.

• Former Razorback Darious Hall also scored 12 points.

• Fayetteville’s Collin Cooper led UCA with 13 points.

STAT TRACKER

• Arkansas’s 97 points is the most points scored this season. The previous high was 93 against Northern Iowa.

• Arkansas outscored UCA 60-16 in the paint.

• Arkansas opened the second half with a 15-3 run to blow open the game.

• Arkansas got off to a 3-for-10 start at the free throw line which is 42% less than the team average. The Hogs finished the half 8-for-20.

• Connor Vanover came into tonight’s game needing to score 11 points to officially average double digits on the season. He finished with 2 points.

• With 5:39 left in the half, UCA was 5-of-6 from behind the arc.

• With eight minutes remaining in the game, both teams had fallen below 50% at the free throw line. Arkansas had edged its way up to 43% and UCA had dropped to 33%. Both teams finished exactly 50% from the line.

Davonte Davis guarding UCA's Camren Hunter on a drive in the first half :: Brett Rojo/USA TODAY Images

RANDOM NOTES OF THE NIGHT

• UCA might have the most travelled roster Arkansas faces this year. Freshman forward Ibbe Klintman made his way to Conway from Malmo, Sweden. Junior forward Eddy Kayouloud hails from Paris, France, while freshman forward Elias Cato moved from Queensland, Australia. The three forwards are a combined 17,869 miles away from home.

• UCA’s Hunter and Arkansas’s K.K. Robinson both played at Bryant.

• The 41-35 halftime score is the exact halftime score from last year’s game between the two schools.

• Connor Vanover’s brother Brandon is the graduate assistant for Anthony Boone’s UCA coaching staff.

Chris Lykes making a pass against UCA :: Michael Morrison/allHOGS Images

HIGHLIGHTS

• Coming into tonight, Vanover had only missed two free throws in his time at Arkansas. He equaled that amount when he missed a pair of free throws early in the first half.

• Fayetteville’s Collin Cooper hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 12:19 in the first half and immediately threw his hands up to let his hometown know he had just helped a 1-6 Bears team tie the No. 10 Hogs at 13-13.

• Stanley Umude’s monstrous two-hand slam after driving past Hall midway through the half got Hog fans into the game. Hall, a former Little Rock Mills Comet, quickly returned the favor with a drive for a lay-up on the other end.

• Hall’s 3-pointer from deep in the right corner gave UCA it’s first lead at 21-19.

• J.D. Notae, Jaxon Robinson and Stanley Umude went 3-of-3 on 3-point shots in less than a minute to put Arkansas back on top 32-24.

• Chris Lykes stutter-stepped across the free throw area and flipped a no-look pass to Devo Davis who was crossing the paint in the opposite direction for a reverse lay-up to make it 82-48 with 6:01 to play.

Jackson Baker was the target of UA students Wednesday night / Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Images

SEEN & HEARD

• Each game the students choose a player to boo throughout the game. Tonight it was guard Jackson Baker.

• Razorbacks Sports Network announcer Manny Watkins said he showed UCA forward Darious Hall around campus on his college visit to Arkansas. Hall played for Arkansas in 2017. He averaged 5 points per game and 3 rebounds. After two years at DePaul, he hit the transfer portal again, this time choosing Anthony Boone's UCA Bears.

• “This is like something out of The Three Stooges. That might make the blooper tape. You ever been to a greased pig competition?” – Announcers after several players from both teams failed to get their hands on a loose ball before Jaylin Williams sent Hall’s attempted lay-up into the second row.

• Coaches handed Devo Davis the phone in practice and on the other end of the line was Arkansas legend Sydney Moncrief. A photo of Davis going up for a dunk on allHOGS that reminded older fans of a Sports Illustrated cover of Moncrief made the rounds earlier this week on social media.

• Arkansas assistant coach Keith Smart, who is known for hitting the game-winning shot for Indiana in the 1987 national championship game, said he tells players he was a 0-star player. He then adds that he was a McDonald’s All-American. When recruits ask how that is possible he explains that he worked for McDonald’s, which makes him a true McDonald’s All-American.

• Arkansas fans chanted “You are a traitor!” at Hall while he shot free throws in the second half.