Qualls working on going full tilt

FAYETTEVILLE -- Michael Qualls at 75 percent was good enough to help Arkansas score more than 100 points.

Qualls broke out of a shooting slump and scored 19 points to help the No. 24 Razorbacks win 101-87 at Auburn on Tuesday night.

It was Qualls' second game since spraining his right knee against South Carolina and he said he felt about 75 percent healthy. He played 25 minutes despite foul problems.

"That's a testimony to Mike," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "He's playing with a lot of toughness, playing with a lot of heart, and he's playing with some pain."

Qualls, a 6-6 junior guard, hit 6 of 9 shots at Auburn, including 3 of 5 three-point attempts.

"I can get a good lift on my jump shot now," he said.

Qualls said he was at about 50 percent in his first game after the injury, when he shot 1 of 9 and scored a season-low 3 points while playing 23 minutes in the Razorbacks' 61-41 victory over Mississippi State. It was the only game this season Qualls didn't have a rebound.

At Auburn he hit his first shot -- a three-pointer -- just as he did against Mississippi State, but this time the shots kept falling for Qualls. He also had 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Qualls hurt his knee against South Carolina when he lunged for a loose ball on the floor and his right leg was bent backward.

"I don't think I'm limited where I can't play the caliber of basketball that I need to play," Qualls said. "It just hurts for me to plant really hard and try to attack, but I'm cool."

Anderson said even though Qualls has been slowed by the knee injury, his presence on the court is important for the Razorbacks.

"You've got to have some toughness, you've got to have an edge," Anderson said. "I think he brings that. He's that emotional leader for our basketball team."

Junior guard Anthlon Bell said it's impressive for Qualls to play through the pain in his knee.

"It just shows that he has the heart of a lion, that he's a warrior," Bell said. "We know that any condition he's in, he's going to give whatever he can to help the team win."

Qualls, averaging 15.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 29.5 minutes, said he hopes to be about 90 percent when the Razorbacks (19-5, 8-3) play at Ole Miss Saturday night.

In the five games prior to Auburn, Qualls shot 14 of 59 from the field (23.7 percent), including 3 of 20 on three-point attempts.

Qualls said his shot had become flat, leading to many missed shots bouncing off the front of the rim.

"The coaches did a really good job of showing me minor things that I do when I miss shots," he said. "It can be just a pinkie on the ball wrong to make you miss a shot.

"It may have nothing to do with the defense."

Anderson said dealing with an injury makes it tougher to break out of a shooting slump.

"It starts playing on your mind," he said. "You've just got to get in the gym and work on it, so Mike got in there with some of the coaches and worked on it to where it feels comfortable."

After Qualls shot 48.2 percent from the field and averaged 16.9 points in the first 17 games this season -- including scoring a career-high 30 points in Arkansas' 93-91 overtime victory against Alabama -- he had the confidence not to be rattled by some rough games.

"I just have confidence to keep playing my game and know if this one doesn't fall, the next one will," Qualls said.

Anderson said Qualls has done a good job of working on other parts of his game, driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line rather than settling for jump shots only. He hit 4 of 5 free throws at Auburn and is 17 of 24 (71 percent) the past six games.

"Hopefully, he can continue to get healed up and get even better," Anderson said.

Qualls said he's been more focused in recent games, motivated by some struggles.

"Of course I want to be a good player, so bad after bad game, you're going to look for a good one," he said. "You're going to do whatever you have to do to make sure that good one happens."

Sports on 02/13/2015