After playing with their food for a half, the Arkansas Razorbacks ravaged Delaware State, 89-67, Saturday in Walton Arena with a furious display of second-half pressure that left no meat on the Hornets’ bones.

The Hogs sprung a frenetic full-court trap on the Hornets that left their heads spinning and their knees weak.

Like a piranha attack, the Hogs rendered eight quick turnovers from the Hornets to push their lead from 49-36 to 67-42 in just over four minutes. In all, the Hogs forced 21 turnovers and had a season-low 10 themselves.

“ In the second half, we really got after them, ” Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey said. “ We put the pressure on them and did a really good job of anticipating and flashing into the passing lanes. ”

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With 14: 28 to play, Mike Washington stole a Delaware State inbounds pass and scored in one quick move. Seconds later, Sonny Weems pilfered another inbounds pass and zipped it behind his back to Washington before falling out of bounds for a quick score and 62-42 lead at 13: 59.

On the prowl again, Weems intercepted an outlet pass with panther-like quickness and drove just beyond the elbow, pulled up and stuck a 12-footer for a 64-22 lead with 13: 41 to play.

“ Sonny was phenomenal at anticipating and getting his hands on the ball, ” Pelphrey said.

Stefan Welsh canned another trey at 13: 20 to cap the 16-0 run and put the game away.

Darian Townes led the Hogs in scoring and rebounding with 18 points and 7 boards. Charles Thomas added 15, Welsh 12, Beverley and Washington 9 apiece and Weems had 8.

Delaware State’s Roy Bright led all scorers with 28 points, while Donald Johnson scored 12 and Frisco Sandidge added 10.

The Razorbacks (4-1 ), who came into Saturday averaging 22 turnovers a game, held the total down to just 10 Saturday in their quickestpaced game of the season.

Thanks to so many cheap baskets, the Hogs shot 56. 9 percent from the field.

The Hornets (2-3 ) shot nearly as well at 53. 1 percent from the field and a hot 45 percent from the 3-point line. Delaware State’s accurate shooting kept the game close into the second half.

The Razorbacks shared the basketball and hit the open man to collect 24 assists. Point guards Welsh (7 ) and Gary Ervin (6 ) combined for 13 of the assists.

“ Getting 13 assists and no turnovers out of that spot is terrific, ” Pelphrey said. “ That’s what we are looking for. ”

Pelphrey enjoyed the noise the 11, 094 Hog fans brought to the fray in the second half when his Razorbacks picked up the pressure.

“ The crowd really responded when we got a steal and a dunk back-to-back, ” Pelphrey said. “ I enjoyed that. It’s the kind of atmosphere we want every game. ”

The Razorbacks started sluggishly in the first half, allowing the Hornets to build confidence and tie the game at 12 with 12: 33 in the first half.

The Hornets were patient amidst the Razorbacks’ pressure, taking good shots and shooting at an 80 percent clip through the first 12 minutes of the game.

Welsh, who got his second start of the season at point guard, stepped up to hit back-to-back 3-pointers at 5: 50 and 5: 30 to erase a 3-point deficit. The Hogs would never lose that lead and thanks to a 7-0 Razorback run to close out the first half, the Hogs took a 43-34 lead into the lockerroom.

Though the Razorbacks played solid defense for most of the first half, getting two 10-second and one 5-second calls, the Hornets still shot a deadly 56. 6 percent from the field in the first frame and a scorching 62. 5 percent from behind the 3-point line, hitting 5 of 8 treys.

Townes also came off the bench to provide a first-half spark, scoring 11 against the smallish Hornets in the first half.

“ Darian was outstanding, ” Pelphrey said. “ He’s got that knack of scoring around the basket. He’s the best we have at scoring inside. ”

The Razorbacks are back in action Wednesday when Mike Anderson and his Missouri Tigers visit for a 7 p. m. game to be televised by ARSN. Anderson served as an assistant for Nolan Richardson at Arkansas from 1985 to 2002.

Anderson served as Arkansas’ interim head coach for the final two games of the 2002 season — a 81-67 victory over Vanderbilt and a 68-61 loss to Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament — after Richardson was fired.

Anderson’s first Missouri squad blitzed the Hogs, 86-64, last year in Columbia, Mo., after Arkansas had opened the season 5-0.

“ I would not be in this building if not for the work of Mike Anderson and Coach Richardson and the other members of his staff, ” Pelphrey said. “ It’s going to be a great challenge to find a way to attack their pressure. It should be an exciting night here in Walton Arena. ”