FAYETTEVILLE -- Michael Qualls was under the weather Sunday according to Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson, but that didn't stop the 6-6 junior guard from leading the No. 25 Razorbacks to 94-77 victory over Iona.
Arkansas pulled away late behind Qualls' 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in 34 minutes before an announced crowd of 6,203 at Walton Arena.
Game sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 6-0. Iona 4-2
STARS Arkansas junior guards Michael Qualls (20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and Anthlon Bell (20 points, 5 of 10 on 3-pointers). Iona senior forward David Laury (25 points, 14 rebounds) and junior guard A.J. English (25 points)
TURNING POINT The Razorbacks outscored Iona 17-4 late in the game to push their lead to 84-69 with 3:26 left.
KEY STAT Arkansas had a 20-5 edge in second-chance points.
UP NEXT Arkansas plays at Iowa State at 8 p.m. Thursday.
— Bob Holt
"I love his game," Iona Coach Tim Cluess said. "He's got such great energy.
"If you're going to ask if there's one guy who makes Arkansas go, I'd say he's the guy."
Qualls hit 7 of 14 shots, including 3 of 7 three-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws.
"He knocked down some big threes," Cluess said. "He can get to the rim. He's getting second shots, he defends. He does it all."
Arkansas (6-0) was leading 67-65 when it outscored the Gaels 17-4 over a 3:48 span to move ahead 84-69 with 3:26 left.
Qualls spearheaded the run with 11 points in 3:28, starting it with a three-point basket and ending it with a layup on a baseline move to get to the rim.
"He was hurting a little bit, but that just tells you about his heart," Anderson said. "He didn't want to let his team down."
Qualls didn't do postgame interviews, but teammates praised his performance.
"Mike is going to do Mike whether he's sick, he's well, whatever he is," said freshman guard Nick Babb, who played 18 minutes off the bench. "He's going to try his best. Not just for himself, but for the team, for Coach.
"He's going to get in there and fight for us and do whatever he needs to do to get the win."
Freshman guard Anton Beard said Qualls said was "real sick" but didn't let it affect him.
'"Just being that sick and actually playing good, that brings out his character," said Beard, who had eight points off the bench.
Razorbacks junior guard Anthlon Bell scored 20 points and hit 5 of 10 three-point baskets.
Senior guard Ky Madden had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Sophomore forward Bobby Portis had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"I liked the effort of our guys," Anderson said. "The execution probably wasn't as great as I wanted, but I thought they played hard. They were trying to play the right way.
"The second half I thought our depth wore down Iona."
David Laury, a 6-9 senior, led the Gaels (4-2) with 25 points and 14 rebounds in 39 minutes. Junior guard A.J. English had 25 points in 40 minutes.
Iona, which had all of its starters play 31 or more minutes, was 1 of 7 from the field with 2 turnovers as it went from 2 points down to a 15-point deficit.
"We felt like it would be tough, especially it being that close going down to the wire," Laury said. "We'd have to pull a little bit more out of the tank, and unfortunately we couldn't get it done."
Nine Razorbacks played 12 or more minutes and Arkansas outscored Iona 19-2 in bench points.
"They have great depth," Cluess said. "I think that's probably why they made those shots late, because those guys were a little fresher than our guys."
Cluess said the Gaels contributed to the Razorbacks' decisive surge with defensive breakdowns after missed shots.
"You can't miss on one end and not compete on the other," Cluess said. "Obviously, we don't have the athletes that Arkansas has, so we have to do every little detail right, and we didn't do them long enough.
"But I give all the credit to Arkansas. They have a heck of a team."
English scored 19 points in the first half when he hit 6 of 8 shots, but was held to six in the second half on 1-of-3 shooting.
Qualls was among the Razorbacks who guarded English in the second half and kept him contained.
"He's a great athlete," Laury said of Qualls. "He's their energy guy.
"He makes a huge block or a save out of bounds or a tough rebound. It just gets the rest of their team riled up and gets their crowd going."
Anderson said he was encouraged not only by Qualls' play, but how he showed good judgment late when the Razorbacks needed to run some clock after their lead became 15 points.
"Sometimes when you're sick, you get more focused," Anderson said. "He was more zoned in.
"Normally, Mike plays with the spectacular taking place. Today he had the opportunity to do the spectacular things, and it was good to see he understood about poise and bringing it back out."
Sports on 12/01/2014