FAYETTEVILLE -- It took Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford a while to get going against Alabama. Once he did, it was all over for the Crimson Tide.
Barford scored all 13 of his points in the second half -- including nine in a row during a 1:20 span -- to help the Razorbacks pull away and beat Alabama 87-68 Tuesday night in Walton Arena.
Before Barford rolled in a fade-away jumper with 16:43 left to put Arkansas ahead 41-33, he had been 0 of 5 from the field. He finished 6 of 12.
"I tend to do that a lot," Barford said of his slow start on offense. "Actually, sometimes I get caught sleeping in the first half maybe, and I just have to wake myself up or get woke up by somebody else and just push it and keep being aggressive."
In Arkansas' 99-86 victory over LSU on Jan. 21, Barford scored all 14 of his points in the second half. He had 14 of his career-high 21 points in the second half of the Razorbacks' 99-71 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday.
When Kentucky beat Arkansas 97-71 on Jan. 7, Barford scored all 14 of his points in the first half before he got into foul trouble in the second half.
"I'd like to see him do it for two halves," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. "He's doing it in halves it seems like.
"But I think it takes a little time -- even for a guy that was one of the top scorers in junior college -- to get acclimated and get comfortable paying with other players."
Barford, a 6-3 junior, transferred to Arkansas from Motlow (Tenn.) Community College, where he averaged 26.2 points as a sophomore.
"He had to do everything for his team at Motlow," Anderson said. "Here it's a little different. He can play off the ball. He can play with the ball.
"And, of course, we play defense. You can't take possessions off. Early on that was one of the things that probably held him back a little bit."
Barford is averaging 11.0 points on the season to rank fourth for the Razorbacks (17-5, 6-3 SEC) going into their game at Missouri at 5 p.m. Saturday, but he's averaging 15.8 points over the past four games and is shooting 50 percent (25 of 50) from the field.
"I think I've gotten very comfortable, me and my teammates," Barford said. "I give it all to my teammates because they push me every day in practice, and especially Coach about being more aggressive every night and more consistent."
Anderson said Barford has a better understanding of his role for the Razorbacks and how he fits in with a team that has used at least nine players in every game and has seven averaging between 14.3 and 5.6 points.
"He's playing a lot freer now," Anderson said. "He's making other guys better."
Barford had five rebounds against Alabama and four assists, including an alley-oop pass from just past half court that led to a dunk by freshman Adrio Bailey.
"I think he's capable of having even more assists," Anderson said. "He's certainly one of those guys we can put the ball in his hands to make a play."
Anderson said Barford -- who has 16 starts this season, including the past seven games -- played good defense throughout his 26 minutes against Alabama and finally got aggressive offensively in the second half.
"He made an effort to kind of take over a little bit and orchestrate a lot of things that took place out on the floor," Anderson said.
Barford's scoring surge helped the Razorbacks go ahead by as many as 27 points, 82-55, with 4:01 left. All of his points came during a 28-8 run in which Arkansas pushed its lead from 35-31 to 63-39.
"It was just a great feeling to have the momentum, especially to have the crowd as loud as they were," Barford said. "It felt great to play defense and have everybody into it. We just made a good run off it.
"We started pushing more and they got tired. We just kept pushing and pushing."
Up next
ARKANSAS AT MISSOURI
WHEN 5 p.m. Saturday
WHERE Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Mo.
RECORDS Arkansas 17-5, 6-3 SEC. Missouri 5-16, 0-9
SERIES Arkansas leads 25-21
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
TV SEC Network
Sports on 02/03/2017