FAYETTEVILLE — Some thoughts and observations following Arkansas' 10th win of the season:
Back-to-back three times
Arkansas shot just 3 of 13 from distance in the first half, but its touch returned early in the second half and appeared to spread throughout the guards as the game went on.
Daryl Macon, Anton Beard and Jaylen Barford each took turns knocking down back-to-back triples after halftime. The trio combined to make six of the Razorbacks' seven second-half threes.
Macon was first to get rolling from deep after the break following a five-point first half. He was searching for his shot, saw his first one fall and it was a wrap after that. He was back in his shooting groove.
Beard was next, and did so emphatically by hitting his in a span of 11 seconds. Before the second 3 fell, it looked like he gave the good folks with floor seats a look. It got the crowd going and put the Hogs up 14.
Barford then blew the door open with his two triples as part of a 12-point second half. With under six minutes to play, he scored eight straight points in one minute's time to push the Arkansas lead to 25.
Macon finding others
Daryl Macon didn't get in on the offensive fun as much as he wanted in the first half against CSU Bakersfield.
But, as we've become accustomed to in recent games, he found ways to impact the game with his passing.
He scored just five points prior to halftime, but also dished out five assists that led to 11 Arkansas points. Macon turned in his third eight-assist game of the season, and those eight dimes turned into 18 points.
Daryl has done a great job finding teammates for good looks and understanding he can still dominate portions of a game without scoring. Wednesday was his second game this month with eight assists, and over his last five games has recorded five or more helpers four times.
What's more impressive: 17 assists, zero turnovers since the 15:26 mark of the second half against Minnesota (99+ minutes played). His assist-to-turnover ratio sits at a team-best 2.9:1 entering SEC play.
Thomas active early
Dustin Thomas had his best offensive performance since the Razorbacks' rout of Connecticut the Sunday after Thanksgiving, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half.
He was very active on the glass early, grabbing three boards in the opening 3-plus minutes. He also recorded two steals in the first two minutes of each half.
Mike Anderson said he thought Thomas was engaged on both ends and playing with quite a bit of confidence.
Postgame, when asked about Saturday's game against No. 19 Tennessee, Thomas said, "Tennessee might be ranked, but they still have to come to Bud Walton. That’s all. That’s all I've got to say."
While he may not be a guy you look for to have a big impact in big games, he did just that against Minnesota a few weeks ago, scoring a couple of buckets in the opening minutes to ignite a packed crowd.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him amped up for another spotlight game this weekend.
Big ovation for Nolan
Former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson was in the house for the Razorbacks' win sitting in his usual spot to the left of the home bench.
Wednesday was the coaching legend's 76th birthday, and he received the biggest ovation of the night when recognized on the video board during a second-half timeout.
Taking care of business
Arkansas entered tonight’s game as a 21.5-point favorite, the sixth time it had been favored by 10 or more this season. And thanks to 19 from Barford, 16 and 8 from Macon and Gafford's 12 boards, the Razorbacks covered another spread.
Arkansas is now 5-1 against those double-digit game lines with the lone slip-up – if you want to call it that – coming against Fresno State in an 8-point win when the line was 13.
It’s a trend that serves the Hogs well in more ways than one. That number should not only give you an indication that the Razorbacks have been one of the best bets of the college basketball season to this point, but that they have played above expectation in a majority of their games.
Arkansas is best in the Southeastern Conference against the spread this season at 9-3. Auburn, who’s covered in seven of 10, is the only other program that comes close. For context, nine of 14 teams are .500 or worse in this area. Vanderbilt stands at 0-9 after finishing second in the SEC with 20 wins ATS in 2016-17.
The Hogs have covered by at least 9.5 points seven times, including then-No. 14 Minnesota, and by 28+ points against Samford and Connecticut, which speaks to their ATS +/- of +6.6 – first in the SEC and 22nd nationally, per teamrankings.com. Arkansas’ 16.9 average margin of victory is second in the conference only to No. 5 Texas A&M (17.2).
Career-high for Gafford
Daniel Gafford's career-high in rebounds coming into Wednesday was eight on two occasions (Fresno State, Oklahoma). He shattered that number against CSU Bakersfield, finishing with 12.
After a couple of big dunks in the early going, Gafford was forced to leave the game with what turned out to be a cut on his right arm. He re-entered the game later wearing a compression sleeve.
Bakersfield coach Rod Barnes praised Gafford after the game, saying the freshman is one of the fastest big men he's seen, and one that puts constant pressure on the basket on both ends.