FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas reserves helped touch off the game-deciding sequence Wednesday night in the Razorbacks' 83-53 victory over Wake Forest at Walton Arena.
After a sluggish start for both teams, Arkansas' second wave started a 15-0 run that took only 2:46 to pull off midway through the first half.
Anton Beard keyed the rally, stealing away a loose dribble from Codi Miller-McIntyre and passing ahead to Jabril Durham, who lobed a pass at the rim for Jacorey Williams to dunk.
"The energy that they bring, it gets contagious," Coach Mike Anderson said of his reserves. "To me it's advantage for us, and it's something we're going to continue to use."
Beard scored eight points during the blitz, including two three-pointers, and ended the run with a three-pointer from the left wing that made it 25-10 at the 9:43 mark. That three-pointer came after a Moses Kingsley block on the other end that Ky Madden saved back into play on the sideline.
Bench power
Arkansas' reserves outscored their Wake Forest counterparts 45-21 and outscored the Razorbacks' starters, who had 38 points.
"Our bench was the biggest difference in this game," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "They just brought the energy."
Anton Beard, Moses Kingsley and Jacorey Williams all scored 10 points off the bench and combined for 13-of-19 shooting.
All 13 Razorbacks scored with the exception of Trey Thompson, who was 0 of 2 in six minutes.
Icy arc
Wake Forest missed its first 14 shots from behind the three-point line and finished 1 of 18 (5.6 percent) as it appeared worn ragged by Arkansas' pressure.
"You can chalk it up to whatever," Wake Forest Coach Danny Manning said. "The results are 1 of 18. This is a results business, and we didn't get it done tonight."
Sports on 11/20/2014