Arkansas loses exhibition opener in Spain

Arkansas guard Dusty Hannahs practices Monday, July 25, 2016, in Fayetteville.

MADRID, Spain - Arkansas' international tour of Spain got off to a rocky start Tuesday.

The Razorbacks missed their first nine shots and fell behind early, and couldn't complete a furious second half comeback bid in an 81-75 loss to Eurocolegio Casvi at Pabellon Real Canoe Gymnasium.

Arkansas trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, but tied the game 75-75 on Dustin Thomas' layup with 1:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. Casvi regained the lead on Alfonso Ortiz's free throw in the next possession and scored five more points in the final 26 seconds to put the game away.

"I thought in the first half it was really feast or famine," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "I wanted to be solid in our defense and in the first half I didn't think we did a very good job of that. We had some guys - some key guys - in foul trouble."

Arkansas center Moses Kingsley fouled out early in the fourth quarter and finished the game with only 7 points and 4 rebounds. Jaylen Barford also fouled out late in the game and Dusty Hannahs played most of the second half with four fouls.

The Razorbacks committed 32 personal fouls and Casvi made 30 of 43 free throw attempts.

"We have to have a little more pride in our defense," Anderson said. "We have to be more physical. They pushed us around a little out there and got some key offensive rebounds, got the free throw line going down the stretch."

"We had a size difference and we didn't do a good job of (taking advantage) of that....I was disappointed (we) didn't set the tone."

Casvi started the game on an 8-0 run and led 14-4 before Arkansas made its first shot, a layup by Daryl Macon nearly four minutes into the game.

Casvi made 50 percent of its field goals in the first half and led 44-32 at halftime. Jorge Sanchez scored 17 of his game-high 28 points before halftime for Casvi.

"It wasn't just that we weren't hitting shots, but we weren't stopping them either," said Arkansas senior Manny Watkins. "If your shots aren't falling, your defense has to be there, and we were just giving them and-ones, weren't rebounding - that's just the worst start I've ever had in any type of game I've ever played. We had an older group out there - all juniors and seniors - and we just can't do that."

Casvi's lead swelled to 59-43 on a 3-pointer by Sergio Jimenez with 3:53 left in the third quarter, but the Razorbacks answered with a 9-0 run to get back in the game.

Watkins scored seven points during the run, making three layups and converting a three-point play with a free throw. He scored nine of his team-high 11 points points in the quarter.

Despite the run, Casvi led 65-54 going into the fourth quarter. Barford scored six straight points to pull the Razorbacks within three points before Arkansas finally caught up on Thomas' layup.

"In the second half we did a much better job of making them extend and I thought they got tired, and then all of a sudden our half-court defense got a whole lot better," Anderson said.

"It was a championship game for them and it was an exhibition game for us. I always say that when you strap on that uniform and you're playing somebody other than yourself, you play to win. We have to emphasize to these guys that when you take the floor, you're the University of Arkansas and will get everybody's best shot."

Hannahs also had 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting for the Razorbacks. Macon added 10 points.

Arkansas made 28 of 63 field goal attempts, but were just 3 of 12 from 3-point range. Both teams committed 17 turnovers.

Sanchez added a game-high 14 rebounds for Casvi, a team that had players ranging from 20 to 31 years old.

Matt Jones contributed