FAYETTEVILLE — For the 22nd consecutive time, Arkansas opened its basketball season with a win.
Dusty Hannahs had 23 points, Daryl Macon 13 and Anton Beard 12 to lead six Razorbacks in double figures in a 92-83 win over Fort Wayne before 7,504 fans Friday night at Bud Walton Arena.
Dustin Thomas added 10 points and six rebounds, Jaylen Barford 10 points, five rebounds and four assists, Manny Watkins 10 points and SEC Preseason Player of the Year Moses Kingsley nine points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in the win.
The Razorbacks had a 24-0 edge in fast break points over a Mastodons team that won 24 games last season, has all five starters back and is projected to win the Summit League and be in the NCAA Tournament.
“They are a great team and they are awesome at what they do,” Hannahs said. “They are going to have a great year in their league. But I just feel like when we pushed the ball, we could do what we wanted because we have the players to do so.
“I think that (fast-break) stat is telling and shows what happens when we get going.”
Fort Wayne led by six points with 8:06 left in the first half, but Arkansas - which scored the game’s first nine points - ripped off a 13-4 run after that and pushed its lead out to 39-36.
The Razorbacks led 51-45 at halftime.
“We had to just keep playing and keep attacking,” Hannahs said. “They hit their run and we got kind of stagnant at times, but we just kept playing our game and got the pace back up to our liking and we were at our strength obviously when we were running and pushing the ball.”
With Kingsley and four others all getting two fouls in the first half, reserves Beard, Watkins, Trey Thompson sparked the run that put Arkansas out front.
“Just come in off the bench with a spark,” Beard said. “(Arkansas head) Coach (Mike) Anderson always says that the biggest strength on this team is the bench and we just came in with the mindset to play defense and just try to help the team.”
Thompson had five points, four rebounds and an assist while playing 11 minutes in place of Kingsley in the first half.
“That was a big spark for us,” Beard said. “Trey Thompson came in with energy and helped us out on offense and defense and that is what I think we needed down the stretch with Moses getting in foul trouble.”
Hannahs had a game-high 23 points despite going 7-of-17 from the field, 1-of-6 from 3-point range and hitting 8-of-10 free throws.
None of those stats are up to his high standards.
“They tell you not to worry about it and I try not to worry about it, but it makes me sick,” Hannahs said. “Especially when I miss free throws. It makes me want to have an aneurysm sometimes, but I am going to keep shooting and working hard and have a short-term memory and not think about that stuff.”
Arkansas went on a 12-2 run late in the game as conditioning became a part of the game.
“I think that was a big turning point for us - the conditioning part,” Beard said. “The last 10 minutes is really our period, that is kind of what we notch our head on so that was like a good turning point for the team.”
The Razorbacks will be back in action Monday night when they host Southern Illinois, who lost its opener to visiting Wright State 85-81 on Friday night.
“That game is over with so we will just get ready and practice in the morning for the next team and keep our heads focused,” Beard said.