FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ margin of victory over West Florida on Friday night nearly equaled Florida State’s scoring total against the Argonauts earlier this week.

The No. 19 Razorbacks beat West Florida, an NCAA Division II team, 117-43 in their exhibition opener before 9, 493 fans at Walton Arena.

That’s a 74-point difference.

It was the second exhibition game for the Argonauts, who lost at Florida State 79-58 on Wednesday night.

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“Arkansas really played well together and played with great defensive intensity,” West Florida Coach Don Hogan said. “Obviously, they’re buying into Coach [John ] Pelphrey’s system.

“ It looks like they’re all on the same page out there and pulling for one another. They’ve got a lot of guys back, but they’re playing an entirely new system, so it’s impressive how well they’re doing it early in the season.”

Pelphrey, who was hired as Arkansas’ coach last April after five seasons at South Alabama, has implemented an up-tempo, pressing style that was unleashed on the overmatched Argonauts.

“This was a big night,” Pelphrey said. “There was some eagerness on our behalf to see how it would go.”

It couldn’t have gone a whole lot better for the Razorbacks. They jumped to a 17-0 lead the first four minutes, including eight points by senior forward Sonny Weems, and stayed in total command the rest of the game.

“We came out and played our game,” Arkansas senior forward Charles Thomas said. “We got better and did what we’re supposed to do.

“ It was a whole lot of fun. We had a lot of fan support tonight, more than expected for an exhibition game, and we wanted to put on a show for them.”

Weems scored 10 points in seven minutes in the first half and didn’t play in the second half because of a strained groin. The injury isn’t considered serious.

Pelphrey was most impressed that the Razorbacks combined for 29 assists and just 13 turnovers.

“That’s terrific regardless of who you’re playing,” Pelphrey said. “That means we’re capable of understanding what’s going on.”

Sophomore forward Michael Washington, who missed the Razorbacks’ first practice and Red-White game for disciplinary reasons, had team-highs of 22 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals in 19 minutes off the bench.

“I was very excited to come back and play,” Washington said. “Coach got my attention [with the suspension ] real well.”

Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley added 17 points and team-high 9 assists with just 1 turnover. Thomas and sophomore guard Stefan Walsh each scored 11 points.

“I think we’re very seasoned and Coach has prepared us very well,” Beverley said. “Everyone on our team took the game very seriously, no matter what the score was.”

Beverley played with a lot of energy and after dunking on a fast break in the second half drew a technical foul for slapping the backboard with his left hand.

“My emotions took over for a minute,” Beverley said. “I wanted to show the crowd a good time, but I won’t do that again.”

No Razorback played more than 20 minutes, but Arkansas pressed the whole 40 minutes, as Pelphrey had said before the game was the plan.

Hogan said he understood the strategy and knew Pelphrey wasn’t trying to run up the score.

“That’s the way they’re going to play,” Hogan said. “They’ve got to do what they have to do for them to successful.

“ If they’re going to press people, they don’t need to be pulling back the first time out of the box.”

Pelphrey said he saw a lot of good things from the Razorbacks, but that they’ve still got a lot to improve on.

“By no means are we where we need to be,” he said. “We understand the competition is going to get more challenging.”