Notebook: Dustin Thomas plays well in debut

Arkansas forward Dustin Thomas, right, drives to the basket as he is guarded by Oklahoma forward Matt Freeman, left, during the second half in an NCAA college basketball game at the Phil Knight Invitational tournament in Portland, Ore., Thursday Nov. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Troy Wayrynen)

— Arkansas senior forward Dustin Thomas made his season debut after missing the first three games of the season for a violation of team rules.

Thomas came off the bench and played 23 minutes, scoring five points, grabbing nine rebounds and coming up with a steal.

“First half, I thought he was a little rusty, but in the second half you could see his impact on this team, doing all the little dirty, blue-collar kind of stuff,” Anderson said.

The 6-foot-8, 225-pounder started 27 games last year and averaged 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. He turned the ball over twice in his first three minutes Thursday, but later had several key offensive boards and made positive contributions as part of Arkansas' crunch-time lineup.

“He was a little shaky to start,” Macon said. “I knew it was going to be like that, I mean he missed three or four games. But once he got the butterflies out, he was just like the old Dustin Thomas.”

Fast-paced affair

Both teams operated at break-neck speed most of the afternoon.

Oklahoma finished with 89 possessions and Arkansas 88. Entering the day, Nicholls State led the nation in pace, averaging 88.1 possessions per game.

Both teams consistently pushed the ball, often operating in transition or semi-transition instead of halfcourt sets. Oklahoma averaged just 12 seconds per offensive possession, a number that would rank second nationally for the season. Arkansas took an average of 15 seconds on its trips down the floor, in line with its 14.8 season average, which ranks 34th in the country.

No time to rest

For the second straight game, Arkansas’ senior guards played a lot of minutes in a game decided by single digits.

Anton Beard played a game-high 35 minutes, while Macon and Barford each played 34. The Razorbacks’ other two options on the wing, sophomore C.J. Jones and freshman Darious Hall, played just 10 and seven minutes, respectively.

That came on the heels of Barford (35), Macon (34) and Beard (30) all playing extended minutes in the 83-75 win over Fresno State last Friday.

Fan wins

Arkansas was winning even when the team wasn’t on the court.

At halftime, a fan from each of the two schools competed in a skills challenge, dribbling through barriers, attempting a layup, throwing a pass in a target and making a free throw. The Arkansas fan handily beat the OU fan.

In the second half, another Razorback fan won a free-throw shooting contest against a Sooner fan, winning in sudden death after each only made one in the allotted 30-second shootout.