Reggie Chaney filled up the box score for the University of Arkansas basketball team against Texas-San Antonio on Saturday night.
The only place Chaney had a 0 was in a good spot for the Razorbacks. He didn't have any turnovers.
New point guard?
Daniel Gafford, the University of Arkansas’ 6-11 sophomore, showed off his ball-handing skills by dribbling behind his back after pulling down one of his career-high 14 rebounds in the Razorbacks’ 79-67 victory over Texas-San Antonio on Saturday night.
Gafford made the move in the second half and managed to get all the way from end of the court to the other before the ball was knocked away from him by a UTSA defender and went out of bounds with Arkansas retaining possession.
“I don’t want to see it too many times,” Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said when asked about Gafford dribbling behind his back. “He got away with it, and he was fortunate that time.”
— Bob Holt
UP NEXT
Arkansas men vs. Georgia Tech
WHEN 8 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville
RECORDS Arkansas 7-2; Georgia Tech 5-3
SERIES Georgia Tech leads 4-1
TELEVISION SEC Network
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
Chaney, a 6-9 freshman, had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots in 28 minutes off the bench to help the Razorbacks beat the Roadrunners 79-67 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. He hit 5 of 7 shots and 1 of 2 free throws.
"If there was a game ball, I'd give it to Reggie because of his defense and his presence out there, blocking shots, touching balls, rebounding the basketball, finishing around the basket, running the floor," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought he played a superb game.
"You can see his confidence is just building and building. That's probably the most minutes he's played, and he was productive."
Chaney did play a season-high in minutes, surpassing his 19 in Arkansas' 98-74 victory at Colorado State on Dec. 5. He also matched the season-high 11 points he scored against the Rams.
Arkansas sophomore point guard Jalen Harris had assists on three of Chaney's baskets against UTSA.
"Reggie, I knew what he had in him since he walked on campus," said Harris, who had 11 points and 10 assists. "I watched a lot of his highlights.
"I know where he likes the ball. I like to find my guys in spots they're real good at. Reggie was running the floor, so I had to reward him."
UTSA Coach Steve Henson said he was especially impressed by Chaney's help defense against guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, who scored 20 and 18 points respectively, but combined to shoot 12 of 37 from the field.
"We kept getting the switch, and Jackson and Wallace typically just blow by big guys in those situations or freeze them and shoot it, and we couldn't do that with [Chaney]," Henson said. "Defensively, that impacted the game, his ability to space out and then contest those shots -- and [the officials] let him reach in there and poke the ball away from our ball-handlers.
"He's pretty good. To have a guy with that frame and that size be able to switch onto elite scorers like that is pretty special. A pretty special deal."
Harris said Chaney is tough defensively on Arkansas' guards in practice.
"I'm not going to lie. Reggie sits down on guards," Harris said, referring to Chaney being in a defensive stance. "I've seen it first-hand in practice. He's sat down on me a couple of times.
"If he has to switch, we know he can play against those guys because he guards us every day."
Chaney was 0 of 2 from the field in the first half, but he was active with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in 11 minutes.
Anderson decided to start Chaney in the second half in place of junior Adrio Bailey, who finished with 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting with 3 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and 2 turnovers in 13 minutes.
"I thought we needed that surge," Anderson said.
Chaney shot 5 of 5 in the second half.
"Reggie is that high-energy guy," said freshman guard Isaiah Joe, who led the Razorbacks with 21 points. "He's going to come out and give it his all.
"One of the best aspects of his game is defense on guards and on bigs. He can play pretty much all five spots defensively.
"Just having a player like that gives us the upper edge. It was really big in getting that win."
Sports on 12/17/2018