Appalachian State came into Alltel Arena and stole a 74-67 victory, but the Mountaineers won’t be stealing Christmas from the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey relented on his pregame threat to yank his players’ Christmas break should they lose to the Mountaineers. Pelphrey said Thursday “as long as we win, we’ll be all right.”

Instead, the Razorbacks let Appalachian State shoot 66. 7 percent from the floor, by far Arkansas’ worst defensive outing of the season. Previously, the best shooting percentage for a Razorbacks opponent was 53. 1 by Delaware State on Nov. 24.

Throw in Arkansas’ 14-of-25 shooting from the free-throw line and a 33-22 rebounding deficit, and it’s easy to understand why Razorbacks players were shellshocked and still seemed to be processing what they’d just been a part of.

ADVERTISEMENT

“He gave us a break,” freshman guard Marcus Britt said. “But we’ve got to come back on the 26 th and get better as a team.”

The general consensus was that while a few days off might be nice, they’re not necessarily deserved.

“Yeah, it surprised me,” senior forward Sonny Weems said. “We shouldn’t deserve it.”

Weems said a lack of defense is the main reason the Razorbacks won’t necessarily feel merry for Christmas.

Particularly bothersome was the performance of Appalachian State freshman guard Donald Sims, who came off the bench to score a game-high 24 points Saturday. That included making 4 of 5 three-pointers. Sims blistered the Razorbacks for 10 points in the final 5: 16 of the first half.

“You make the first couple of shots and the sky’s the limit from there,” Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley said. “Then your confidence goes up. We gave them a lot of confidence.”

But if Sims’ scoring was a matter of starting warm and finishing hot, the damage done inside by the Mountaineers was a matter of pure bulk. Forward Donte Minter and backup Isaac Butts combined for 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.

Minter, who began his career at Virginia before transferring to Appalachian State after his sophomore season, camped out on the low block throughout the second half and finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Neither Minter nor Butts would be described as “chiseled” — Minter is listed at 6-8 and 250 pounds while Butts goes 6-10 and 295 — but the extra weight caused problems for Arkansas’ inside defenders.

“It’s difficult,” said Arkansas center Steven Hill, the SEC’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year. “It’s especially difficult when you’re used to defending a certain type of big man. You’ve got to work to get around and not allow the ball to get inside.”

Arkansas has far bigger things to work around after Saturday. The Razorbacks face Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 29, then play a Jan. 5 game in Dallas against Baylor (9-1 ), which already has victories over South Carolina, Wichita State and Notre Dame.

Those two games are all that stand between Arkansas and its Jan. 12 SEC opener at Auburn, and they loom larger now after the loss to Appalachian State.

“We haven’t been in this position before,” Hill said. “I feel like we beat all the teams we were supposed to beat in the past.”

All that changed Saturday, and gave the Razorbacks something to think about over their break.

“They’re going home,” Pelphrey said. “That’s the best thing right now.”