FAYETTEVILLE -- Crazy as it sounds, the Arkansas Razorbacks are averaging more points through eight games this season than they did a year ago.
Arkansas is averaging 86.1 points a game without six of last season's top seven scorers who helped the Razorbacks average 85.3 points over the first eight games.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS VS. TENNESSEE TECH
WHEN 7 p.m. WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville
RECORDS Arkansas 4-4; Tenn. Tech 7-2.
SERIES First meeting
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
TELEVISION SEC Network
TICKETS $30 lower level, $25 upper level
The schedules haven't been drastically different with Arkansas playing Georgia Tech and Stanford in New York and Wake Forest on the road this season compared to Wake Forest at home and SMU, Iowa State and Clemson on the road at this point a year ago.
Scoring figured to be a challenge for Arkansas considering its six returnees -- minus suspended guard Anton Beard -- averaged fewer points last season (16.7) than forward Bobby Portis (17.5), the SEC's player of the year and a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls.
How is it possible the Razorbacks (4-4) rank 16th nationally in scoring going into tonight's game game against Tennessee Tech (7-2) in Walton Arena?
It helps that junior guard Dusty Hannahs, a transfer from Texas Tech who redshirted last season, is averaging a team-high 18.3 points and freshman guard Jimmy Whitt is averaging 9.9, but the biggest factor is the returnees have combined to average more than three times what they did last season.
"They've gotten the opportunity," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "If you go back and look at the minutes those guys played last year, it was very minimal.
"Now they've been thrust into some featured roles, and I think they're taking on that responsibility of doing the things it takes to be in those positions."
Senior guard Anthon Bell, the team's leading returning scorer at 7.9 points last season, is averaging 16.4. Moses Kingsley, a 6-10 junior, has made the biggest scoring jump from 3.6 to 15.9.
Junior guard Manny Watkins has gone from averaging 2.6 points to 8.5; senior guard Jabril Durham from 1.8 to 7.1; senior forward Keaton Miles from 0.4 to 4.5; and sophomore forward Trey Thompson from 0.4 to 2.0.
Watkins said it's not hard to explain why the returnees are scoring at such a higher rate.
"We have to, that's really what it comes down to," he said. "Someone told me you don't know how strong you are until you're pushed to see what you actually can do.
"We lost all those guys last year that played a lot of minutes for us, so other people have just got to step in, and that's what we're doing. It's no surprise. I think that's going to be the story this year."
Kingsley played behind Portis last season and other Razorbacks were backups to Michael Qualls, Ky Madden and Alandise Harris -- all four career 1,000-point scorers.
"We had a lot good people in front of us," Kingsley said. "When that happens, you need to be patient. People don't really know how good a lot of our players are this season, but they're finding out now."
Arkansas also has gotten a surprising contribution from senior center Willy Kouassi, a graduate transfer from Kennesaw State, where he averaged 4.6 points. In the past three games, Kouassi has averaged 8.3 points.
The Razorbacks' scoring will get a boost when Beard is eligible to return for the next game Dec. 19 against Mercer. Beard, a sophomore, averaged 5.7 points last season when he started the final 16 games.
Thompson figures to play a bigger role after he played seven minutes when he injured his right ankle against Georgia Tech, missed three games and then played four minutes against Evansville.
"I've always thought competition was very good for our basketball team, but some guys have actually been playing because of sheer numbers," Anderson said. "As we get guys back, now that competition begins again and hopefully it'll thrust our team even up a little higher."
Sports on 12/12/2015