AUBURN, Ala. -- Alandise Harris charged to the rim for a layup three seconds after Bobby Portis won the opening tip Tuesday night, and the Arkansas Razorbacks were off and running for their first 100-point performance on the road in 17 seasons.
Auburn never forced Arkansas out of its comfort zone and the Tigers paid the price in a 101-87 victory that marked the Razorbacks' seventh 100-point game under Coach Mike Anderson and their second this season.
"We love that," said Arkansas guard Michael Qualls, who made 6 of 9 shots and scored 19 points. "To be honest, Coach, he hates when we play like slow, pass, pass, UCLA-cut type ball.
"So for a team to want to run with us, it's just like practice. We do it every day. That's why you saw us knocking down shots because that's the rhythm that we play with."
The Razorbacks scored 100 points in a road game for the first time since a 100-83 victory at Louisville on Dec. 9, 1997, and for the first time in an SEC road game since a 108-105 overtime victory at LSU on March 2 during Arkansas' national championship season of 1994.
The Razorbacks were locked in from the start. Qualls made his first three-pointer from the left corner, went to the free-throw line five times and did not miss a shot until the second half. Ky Madden made his first three-point shot, finished 3 of 5 from three-point range, and had eight of Arkansas' 23 assists and no turnovers.
"We had pretty good ball movement tonight," Madden said afterward. "That's how we practice. If we move the ball like that, it's going to find the open man."
Anthlon Bell came in with the first wave of reserves and nailed his first two three-point shots to put Arkansas ahead 23-17. Bell finished 4 of 7 on three-pointers, his first career road game making four.
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson, who is 3-0 at Auburn Arena, said the Razorbacks were efficient with their high assist-to-basket ratio, 53.8 percent shooting and by holding Auburn to 42.6 percent shooting.
"We really got things going from a defensive standpoint and the group off the bench really added to it," Anderson said. "I thought Auburn wore down."
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl concurred, saying the Tigers' third game in six days dulled their aggressiveness, plus it helped the Razorbacks were 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) on three-pointers.
"They play really well together," Pearl said. "This is as well as they've shot the ball in a while, particularly on the road. They're good from two and three, but tonight they were terrific from three."
Arkansas' 53.8 percent shooting (35 of 65) was its second-best performance of the season, following a 56.7 percent night in the season opener against Alabama State. The Razorbacks had not hit half of their shots in a road game since opening SEC play shooting 51.7 percent in their 79-75 victory at Georgia.
"This just gives us more confidence to go on the road and keep doing what we're doing," said Arkansas' Bobby Portis, who capped his 20th birthday with 9-of-15 shooting and a game-high 22 points. "Hopefully Saturday we can come and do the same thing."
The Razorbacks get a rematch Saturday against Ole Miss, which handed Arkansas its second-worst home loss (96-82) under Anderson on Jan. 17.
Sports on 02/12/2015