In the Lane

Chaney impresses in debut

Arkansas forward Reggie Chaney goes up for a shot during a game against Texas Southern on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas forward Reggie Chaney saw his first action of the season in Tuesday's 82-51 victory over Texas Southern after being suspended the first three games for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Chaney's suspension was lifted Tuesday morning, with Coach Eric Musselman stating Chaney had fulfilled all the obligations associated with the suspension.

Chaney checked in at the 11:08 mark and got on the stat sheet 11 seconds later with a steal. A couple of minutes later, Chaney took an entry pass, faked his man off his feet and cashed in a short bank shot to give the Razorbacks a 24-10 lead.

The 6-8 Chaney, the tallest eligible Razorback, finished with 6 points, 2 rebounds and a career-high-tying 4 steals in 20 minutes.

"I think I played OK for my first time back," said Chaney, who admitted he got a little tired. "I did a little bit of inside scoring and got some rebounds for us and got some defensive stops."

Musselman said he thought Chaney played well.

"We were a little worried about his wind, just because we don't go up and down live much with the way that we do preparations with games," he said. "We stick to basically half-court stuff. Not playing for three games, we needed to make sure that he kind of got some rest.

"I thought he gave us good minutes tonight. He protected the paint. He rolled hard to the rim. I think he'll get more and more comfortable with our system the more minutes that he gets."

Doubling up

Jimmy Whitt had 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for his first Arkansas double-double. Whitt had five of them during his time at SMU.

The Razorbacks have now had double-doubles in back-to-back games, as Adrio Bailey posted 12 points and 11 rebounds in a 64-46 victory over Montana on Friday.

Streaking

Arkansas guard Mason Jones went 2 of 2 from the free-throw line to improve to 23 of 23 on the season.

Jones has connected on 32 consecutive free throws dating back to the end of last season.

Against Texas Southern, both of Jones' free throws came on three-point plays in the first half.

3-point lid

Arkansas and Texas Southern combined to miss their first 17 shots from three-point range in the first half. The Tigers broke the ice when guard Tyrik Armstrong made a left-handed shot from the right corner at the 1:47 mark to break Texas Southern's 0 for 5 start from beyond the arc.

Arkansas missed all 13 of its three-point tries in the first half, including 0 for 5 by Isaiah Joe, 0 for 4 from Desi Sills and 0 for 2 from Mason Jones and Jalen Harris.

Joe ended the dry spell early in the second half with a long ball from the right wing at the 19:28 mark. That gave Arkansas at least one three-point make in 1,014 consecutive games.

Blocked!

The Razorbacks posted a season-high six blocked shots -- in the first seven minutes of the game.

Adrio Bailey had three blocks in the first 2:10 and wound up with a career-high-tying five. Bailey also had five blocked shots in an 87-68 loss to North Carolina on Nov. 24, 2017.

Arkansas wound up with 10 blocked shots, two by Mason Jones and one each from Jeantal Cylla, Reggie Chaney and Ethan Henderson.

Line games

Arkansas went 14 of 18 from the free-throw line to improve to an SEC-best 77.2% from the stripe.

Texas Southern came in making 72% from the line but that rate dropped considerably with a poor performance. The Tigers shot 11 of 19 for 57.9%.

Ewing plays

Eden Ewing, Texas Southern's top scorer and rebounder, was back in action after missing the Tigers' 88-69 loss at South Dakota on Friday with a minor injury.

Ewing did not start and wound up with 9 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes.

Tip-ins

• Arkansas forced 24 turnovers from the Tigers and turned them into a 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

• The Razorbacks shot back-to-back airballs late in the first half. Jalen Harris drew nothing on a three-point shot from the left corner, then Isaiah Joe drove the right baseline and airmailed a high-arcing 13-footer over the rim.

• Arkansas guard Desi Sills got a rebound while lying flat on his back in the second half. Sills had his shot blocked by Texas Southern's Jethro Tshishumpa and fell to the floor, where the carom came down to him.

• Arkansas improved to 7-0 in the series against Texas Southern.

Sports on 11/20/2019