FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of California-Davis opened Monday's home-opening 81-58 victory for the Arkansas Razorbacks on an extended scoring drought.
The Aggies (0-3) failed to score on their first 10 possessions and were still scoreless well beyond the first media timeout. The Aggies missed their first six shots and had fallen behind 11-0 before A.J. John hit a three-pointer from the right wing at the 13:50 mark.
By that point, UC-Davis had committed five turnovers, including charging fouls against Joe Mooney and Stefan Gonzalez, and had five personal fouls.
Free fall
Arkansas got off to a horrendous start from the free-throw line before bouncing back in the second half.
The Razorbacks missed five of their first seven free throws, which included four consecutive misses, and made only three of their first 10.
When Isaiah Joe connected on a three-point shot at the 5:12 mark, the Razorbacks were shooting better from three-point range (4 of 11) than at the line (3 of 10).
Arkansas went 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) in the first half and finished 27 of 41 (65.9 percent) after making 21 of 27 free throws (77.8 percent) in the second half.
Adrio Bailey salvaged the night from the line, hitting his first nine before missing two in a row late in the game.
5-point play
The Razorbacks opened the scoring in the second half with a bang, getting a five-point trip with a big assist from the Aggies.
UC-Davis Coach Jim Les drew a technical foul at the 18:46 mark of the half, complaining after Arkansas' Daniel Gafford wound up with the ball following a scrum on the Aggies' end of the floor.
Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe made both of the free throws for the foul on Les and the Razorbacks kept possession.
Eleven seconds later, Adrio Bailey drove the lane, hit a layup and drew a foul from A.J. John. Bailey completed the three-point play to extend the Hogs' lead to 42-30.
Season openers
Arkansas improved to 86-10 in home openers, including 26-0 at Walton Arena.
Arkansas has won 45 consecutive home openers, dating to a 102-100 loss to Western Kentucky in Coach Lanny Van Eman's final season in 1973-1974.
Coach Mike Anderson is now 17-0 in home openers.
Block party
Arkansas' Daniel Gafford had his swat on against the Aggies.
The 6-11 sophomore had three blocked shots in the first half Monday, more than his game-high two against Texas in Friday's season opener at El Paso, Texas. Gafford tipped another deep shot from the perimeter in the second half to give him four in the game.
Gafford finished with 12 points on 3-of-3 shooting, had 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a team-high 6 turnovers.
Free up
Arkansas had gotten to the free throw line 10 times before Cal-Davis took its first shots from the line at the 3:55 mark of the first half. The Aggies went 4 for 4 from the line in the first half and were 15 of 18 (83.3 percent) for the game.
The refereeing crew of Todd Austin, K.B. Burdett and Hunter Allen whistled 53 fouls, 32 against UC-Davis and 21 against Arkansas.
Board battle
Cal-Davis outrebounded the taller Razorbacks 16-14 in the first half and extended their lead on the glass in the second half.
The Aggies won the board battle 36-31 overall, led by 5-9 guard T.J. Shorts II, who had eight. He tied Arkansas' Mason Jones for game-high honors.
Texas outrebounded the Hogs 48-46 in the opener.
Fruitless trip
Cal-Davis had a rough offensive trip midway though the first half with Arkansas leading 50-41.
T.J. Shorts II missed a jump shot and big man Matt Neufeld rebounded for the Aggies. Neufeld missed a short bank shot and Arkansas' Daniel Gafford had his hand on the rebound before it got tipped away to the circle, where Cal-Davis guard Stefan Gonzalez corralled it. Gonzalez missed a three-point shot and Garrison Goode tipped the rebound back over to Gonzalez, who missed again from the left wing before Mason Jones finally got possession for the Hogs.
3 streak
The Razorbacks didn't need long to extend their streak of games with a made three-pointer.
Mason Jones connected from the left wing at the 19:01 mark on Arkansas' first possession to push the streak to 979 consecutive games.
Extra points
• Arkansas forward Adrio Bailey hit the first three-point shot of his career at the 8:42 mark of the second half. Bailey had been 0 for 1 before that.
• Former Razorback Marcus Monk attended the game and sat in the court-side chairs.
Sports on 11/13/2018