It wasn’t a picture-perfect season opener for the Arkansas Razorbacks Friday, but the Hogs did finish stronger than they started to post a 67-45 victory over the Wofford Terriers.

“ It’s great to have that first win out of the way for me and my friends, ” first-year Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey said. “ It wasn’t the easiest win to get, but with a lot of other teams losing exhibition games and early games, it feels really good. ”

Pelphrey’s alma mater, Kentucky, felt the sting of an unexpected early season loss Wednesday at the hands of Gardner-Webb, 84-68, in the 2 K College Sports Hoops Classic.

“ We knew we had played a little lackadaisical and Coach told us at halftime to pick up the intensity, ” sophomore guard Patrick Beverley said. “ We finished off strong but not as strong as he wanted us to. ”

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Though frustrated in the first half, the Razorbacks’ defense sharpened in the second half, which allowed the Hogs to outscore the Terriers, 37-19, after intermission.

Beverley’s 15 points led four Razorbacks in double figures. Darian Towns added 14, while Sonny Weems and Gary Ervin each had 10.

Mike Washington led the Hogs with 7 rebounds, followed by Charles Thomas with 6, Townes and Beverley 5 and Weems with 4. The Hogs dominated the glass with a 40-27 advantage.

Taking advantage of several breakaway baskets, the Razorbacks finished the game hitting 26 of 54 shots for 48. 1 percent.

The Razorbacks held Wofford to 17 of 47 shooting for 36. 2 percent. The Razorbacks forced 15 turnovers but suffered 13 themselves and had 13 assists.

Ervin attributed the slow start to opening-night jitters, but said Wofford also had a lot to do with it.

“ We had a couple of letdowns but you have to give it up for Wofford, ” he said. “ They executed their plays and knocked down open shots. But once we got in our rhythm, things changed. ”

Officiating dominated the early going with 10 fouls being called in the first four and half minutes of play, producing rag-tag play from both units. The Razorbacks particularly had trouble finding an offensive rhythm thanks to the stoppages of play and gritty Wofford defense.

Hill picked up two early fouls and sat out all but three minutes of the first half. By the 18: 33 mark of the second half, he was on the bench with his fourth foul.

“ The game was closely called, ” Pelphrey said. “ There were some early fouls that didn’t go our way. It’s good that we have some frontcourt depth. ”

Townes kept the Hogs in the game early, scoring Arkansas’ first six points and finishing the half with 14. The 6-9 senior was nearly unchallenged inside.

The Hogs failed to score until the 14: 28 mark when Townes threw down a dunk off a high post feed from Thomas to trim the Terriers ’ lead to 6-2. Wofford would lead 10-2 before Townes slammed in another dunk at the 12: 33 mark.

“ We really didn’t play that well at first, ” Pelphrey said. “ But we were able to fight and scratch and claw our way back in it.

“ I thought our guys were jacked up. Guys being too high can be as bad as them being too low. We want to be at that magical level. ”

Ervin got into the scoring action with a 3-pointer at the 11: 01 mark, set up by a top of the key screen by Vincent Hunter to trim Wofford’s lead to 11-9.

Weems gave Arkansas it first lead, 15-14, with a runout layup with 8: 57 left in the half.

The Terriers took a 21-19 lead, but Beverley tied the game with two free throws at 2: 39 and the Razorbacks would never trail again in the half.

Townes made the play of the game after Wofford ran the first-half clock down under 10. He swatted Drew Gibson’s shot, collected the rebound and drove coast to coast for a dunk at the buzzer for a 30-26 halftime lead.

“ I saw the guy was driving to the basket trying to get fouled, ” Townes said. “ He just threw up a shot and I blocked it. I just wanted to end the play strong and get the crowd into it.

“ When I hit halfcourt I looked up and saw that I had three seconds left. I saw Gary in front of me calling for the ball, but I wanted to get that dunk. ”

Pelphrey called the block a huge play.

“ We’ve got some guys who can erase mistakes, ” said Pelphrey of his Hogs, who had 11 blocks. “ Darian blocked a shot and took it end to end. ”

The Razorbacks had worked themselves into a 37-28 lead thanks to a Beverley 3-pointer, but then official Mark Whitehead hit Pelphrey with a technical foul.

“ I think I was just too exuberant with all the great support from Razorbacks fans, ” Pelphrey said.

Wofford made up four points with two free throws and a bucket after the technical to pull within 37-32 of the Hogs.

But a four-footer by Hill sandwiched between a backdoor layup at 12: 51 and a 3-pointer at 11: 29 by Beverley gave the Razorbacks a 44-32 lead.

The Razorbacks stretched their lead to 51-34 with 7: 45 to play with a coast-to-coast layup by Ervin and a spin move inside by Thomas.

Weems ’ one-handed jam for a 59-44 lead with 3: 03 to play signaled the end for the Terriers, who would never pull as close again.

“ We started off slow and Wofford came out and played hard, ” Townes said. “ We kind of picked it up in the second half but we’ve still got some work to do. ”

The Razorbacks now travel to play in the O’Reilly ESPNU Puerto Rico Tipoff next week. The Hogs open with College of Charleston in a 4 p. m. Thursday contest that will be televised on ESPNU. The Razorbacks will play Friday and Sunday before heading back home.

The Razorbacks next home game is at 2: 05 p. m. Nov. 24 against Delaware State.