In the lane

Gulley ‘poised’ in debut

NWA Media/JASON IVESTER -- Arkansas junior Fred Gulley puts up a shot during the second half against Alcorn State for his first points on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

— It was a nice Arkansas debut for Fred Gulley on Saturday night in Walton Arena.

Gulley, a junior guard from Fayetteville, had been waiting for a year to play for the Razorbacks after transferring from Oklahoma State in January, but he didn’t appear to be anxious or rusty.

While Gulley had 5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in 13 minutes off the bench in the Razorbacks’ 97-59 victory over Alcorn State, he also didn’t have a turnover.

“I didn’t think he tried to do too much, that’s the beauty of it,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said.

“I thought he played well.

He’s got a feel for the game.

He knows who he is and what he brings to the table.

He’s a guy that’s going to bring some experience, some savvy, some ball handling, defense.

“He’s a glue guy, so to speak.”

Arkansas forward Coty Clarke said he and Gulley had talked about how excited Gulley was to finally get to play in a game for the Razorbacks.

“It’s another brother and another teammate out there,” Clarke said. “We had a discussion, and he wanted his family to see him play again.

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NWA Media

Arkansas freshman Dee Wagner (left) and junior Fred Gulley (right) force a turnover by Alcorn State freshman Terrance Birdie during Saturday’s game at Walton Arena.

“He didn’t want to come out and force anything. He wanted to take his time and get his feel back. It’s his first game, so I can imagine he was nervous from sitting out, but it looked to me like he was pretty poised out there.” Threes falling

Arkansas made 10 of 24 three-pointers against Alcorn State, and eight Razorbacks made at least one. The Razorbacks are29 of 63 (46 percent) from three-point range in their past three games. They were 9 of 22 against Oklahoma and 10 of 17 against Michigan.

Bouncing back

Razorbacks freshman forward Michael Qualls had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals in 15 minutes Saturday night. He shot 4 of 5 from the field, including 2 dunks, after shooting 1 of 7 and scoring 2 points over a 41-minute span the previous 5 games.

“It felt great to dunk,” Qualls said. “It always feels great, but I think I get most excited when I see other guys on the team get dunks and get blocks. It riles me up.” Walker graduates

Darrell Walker, the former Arkansas All-America guard who is an assistant coach with the New York Knicks, attended the Arkansas-Alcorn State game with his wife, Lisa, after taking part in graduation ceremonies earlier Saturday. Walker, who was a senior for the Razorbacks during the 1982-1983 season, completed his degree in human resource management by taking online classes.

Just perfect

Arkansas improved to 5-0 all-time against Alcorn State. The teams’ most recent meeting before Saturday night was the Razorbacks’ 130-68 victory in the 2009-2010 season opener when Rotnei Clarke scored an Arkansas school-record 51 points and hit 13 three pointers to set UA and SEC records.

Clarke, who now plays for Butler, scored 19 points in the Bulldogs’ 88-86 overtime victory against No. 1 Indiana on Saturday. He hit 5 of 11 three-pointers.

Sports, Pages 35 on 12/16/2012