FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas senior forward Adrio Bailey got his first double-double in his 95th game with the Razorbacks.
Bailey finished with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in 30 minutes to help Arkansas beat Montana 64-46 on Saturday at Walton Arena.
"I thought he played a great all-round game," Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. "We played through him a little bit more. He had the ball in his hands a little bit early in the game."
Musselman believed the 6-6 Bailey would take advantage of his quickness against 6-9 Mark Anderson, which proved to be the case.
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"When Adrio plays that center spot, he's just so quick off the floor," Musselman said. "I thought his [five] offensive rebounds were phenomenal. He had one off a missed free throw [by teammate Jimmy Whitt] that was awesome.
"He's a guy that has the ability on our team to range rebound."
Bailey said he didn't want to celebrate his double-double too much.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm excited that I got it," he said. "But I want it to be the first of many, not just one game."
Bailey's previous high for rebounds was nine in this season opener against Rice.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkagAGHAYg8]
Hot at the line
Arkansas junior guard Mason Jones hit 8 of 8 free throws Saturday to stay perfect on the season. He has hit 21 free throws in three games, extending his streak of makes to 30 going back to last season.
Jones hit his final nine free throws last season, including a final attempt at Vanderbilt and going 4 of 4 at both Providence and Indiana in the NIT.
"Don't jinx him," Coach Eric Musselman said with a smile when asked about Jones' perfection at the line. "We're not supposed to talk about that.
"He's been great from the charity stripe, and we don't want to talk about it because it's kind of like a baseball hitter that's hot."
[GALLERY: Arkansas defeats Montana 64-46 » arkansasonline.com/1117hogs/]
Rickey Medlock holds Arkansas' school record with 48 consecutive free throws made over 20 games during the 1974-75 season.
Joe struggles
Arkansas sophomore Isaiah Joe, who came into Saturday's game averaging 20.0 points and shooting 55.6% from the field (15 of 27), had a rare off game offensively.
Joe shot 2 of 13 from the field, including 2 of 9 on three-pointers. He even struggled on free throws, hitting 3 of 5, but he found other ways to contribute with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. He also played well defensively, said Coach Eric Musselman.
"I thought Isaiah was off the charts good defensively," Musselman said. "Sometimes your shot just doesn't fall. We didn't tell him to stop shooting. We wanted him to continue to shoot."
Joe made a key basket when he nailed a three-pointer to cap a 7-0 run that put the Razorbacks ahead 47-33 with 9:38 left.
On deck
Arkansas plays Texas Southern (0-3) on Tuesday night at Walton Arena. The Tigers will be playing their fourth consecutive road game after losing at San Diego State 77-42, at Wichita State 69-63 and at South Dakota 88-69.
"We have great respect for everybody we play," Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. "We walked in that locker room tonight and we talked about Montana for about two minutes, then we went right in to Texas Southern. Their depth chart is up on our chalkboard.
"When [the Razorbacks] walk in after every game, the next team's opponent is up on our board, and there's some key notes about who we play next. It's on to Texas Southern and how we can beat them.
"I think just the players understanding how the coaching staff is -- I don't know what word to say, my wife would say uptight -- about every game and having great respect for them. Building up your opponent and really finding the strengths of the team that you're playing and trying to emphasize those to your basketball team instead of talking about things they're deficient at. We really stress what opponents are good at each and every game."
Not half bad
Arkansas has held all three of its opponents under 20 points in the first half. The Razorbacks led Rice 39-19, North Texas 28-16 and Montana 31-18.
Hoops Roadshow
The Arkansas-Montana game was part of the Collegiate Hoops Roadshow, a multi-site, on-campus exempt event that allows teams to add an extra game to their schedule.
Arkansas also will have games in the event against Texas Southern, South Dakota and Northern Kentucky.
Vs. SEC
Montana played Arkansas for the first time and fell to 0-9 against SEC teams.
Muss and Montana
Eric Musselman improved to 2-0 as a head coach against Montana. In his first season at Nevada, Musselman's Wolf Pack beat the Grizzlies 79-75 in Reno in the first round of the 2015 College Basketball Invitational.
Sports on 11/17/2019