FAYETTEVILLE -- Iona freshman guard Schadrac Casimir found it a lot tougher to score on Arkansas than Delaware State.
Casimir set Iona's freshman record with 40 points Wednesday night in a 126-76 victory over Delaware State -- a team Arkansas beat 99-71 Nov. 21 -- but was held to three points as the Razorbacks beat the Gaels 94-77 Sunday in Walton Arena.
Casimir was 1 of 9 against Arkansas after hitting 11 of 13 shots, including 8 of 9 three-pointers, in a home game against Delaware State. He was 1 of 6 on three-pointers, with his basket tying the game 52-52 with 16:55 left.
"We paid attention to him," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said.
Iona Coach Tim Cluess said Casimir might have been overly nervous playing a nationally-ranked SEC team on the road.
"I think he's a freshman, and he saw the bright lights for the first time against a team of this caliber," Cluess said. "He kind of lost his game out there.
"He wasn't aggressive. You could see in his eyes he wasn't looking for his shot."
Cluess said he had to yell at Casimir about being benched to get him to take as many as shots as he did. He played 34 minutes.
Arkansas did a good job defensively on Casimir, Cluess said, and he struggled going against the Razorbacks' longer-armed, more athletic players than he faced in the first four games.
Casimir came into Sunday's game averaging 16.4 points. He scored 20 against Cleveland State and 12 against Wake Forest.
"He's got to get better," Cluess said. "It's not OK to go 40 in one game and three in another."
Harris injured
Arkansas forward Alandise Harris, a 6-6 senior from Little Rock who started the first five games, didn't play Sunday because of a bruised foot.
Coach Mike Anderson said he's not sure if Harris, who is averaging 6.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.6 minutes, will be ready to play in the Razorbacks' next game at Iowa State Thursday night.
"Of course he's seeking treatment daily, and probably hourly," Anderson said. "I'm sure he wants to get back.
"We'll know more probably later this week."
Junior Jacorey Williams started in place of Harris and had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 16 minutes. It was Williams' first start after coming off the bench 65 times.
Big run
Arkansas outscored Iona 17-4 to push its lead from 67-65 to 84-69 and finally get a cushion against Iona.
"You just know it's always going to come," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "It's the cumulative effect of the pressure defense.
"You could see it around the 10-minute mark. We were getting ready to pull away."
Life on the road
Arkansas hit 15 of 23 free throws compared to 14 of 20 by Iona, but Gaels Coach Tim Cluess said he believed his team should have had more attempts.
Cluess started to say one official didn't give the Gaels a call the entire game, but caught himself.
"Never mind," he said. "Let's just say that when you go on the road, you've got to expect certain things out of your control, and you have to make shots in order to be successful when those things happen."
Not enough treys
Iona came into Sunday's game averaging 13 made three-point baskets, but finished 7 of 23 against the Razorbacks.
Coach Tim Cluess said the Gaels needed to kick the ball outside more when they drove to the basket and the Razorbacks swarmed to the ball.
"We really felt we could get a lot of open shots on the perimeter, and we got a lot," Cluess said. "But we thought we could have gotten more. We need to hit those shots when we're playing a team of this caliber.
"You can't come in and shoot 7 of 23, because I guarantee you probably 20 of those 23 were open looks."
Tip-ins
Arkansas has started 6-0 for the first time since the 1997-1998 season, when the Razorbacks won their first eight games ... Arkansas is one of two unbeaten SEC teams along with No. 1 Kentucky ... the Razorbacks have won 19 consecutive games in Walton Arena against nonconference teams since losing to No. 6 Syracuse 91-82 on Nov. 30, 2012 -- two years to the day Sunday ... Iona fell to 5-17 all-time against SEC teams after playing Arkansas for the first time.
Sports on 12/01/2014