FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has a pair of 6-6 guards who can play together in the backcourt.
One is just getting his college career started, while the other is trying to finish off his career with a flourish.
Freshman Moses Moody had career-highs of 24 points and 9 rebounds and senior transfer Jalen Tate added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists as the Razorbacks downed Texas-Arlington 72-60 on Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena.
Tate’s 14 points matched what he scored in his first two games after transferring from Northern Kentucky during the offseason.
“Man, it felt great,” Tate said. “The first couple of games, I have kind of been trying to feel it out, just trying to get comfortable and make sure I get everybody else involved. But I know I can help the team scoring, too, and seeing a few of them go in and continuing to work every single day, that’s all we do here.”
Tate was the Horizon League Defensive Player of Year last season and also a third-team all-conference selection while averaging 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals.
“I am just doing everything I can to help this team win, man,” Tate said. “If it means I have got to go out there and distribute the ball more — I mean four assists is kind of low. I had that in the first half. Guys are making shots and all credit to my teammates, but down the stretch you got to do to whatever you can to win games.
“I could do probably more on the boards. I don’t want to just get…OK with what I did tonight. I want to keep expanding, doing better and whatever it takes to help us win games.”
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was pleased with Tate’s stat-sheet stuffing as the Razorbacks improved to 3-0.
“He is kind of a Jack of all trades,” Musselman said. “He does a little bit of everything for us. He can kind of play multiple positions.”
Tate seems in the mold of Jimmy Whitt, who was a key cog on last year’s team after transferring from SMU.
“When we recruited him, we feel like Jimmy allowed us to do so many things last year because we could switch pick and rolls and I think that was our way of taking away 3-point shots last year,” Musselman said.
“Jalen has great size, great length. He is a very good rebounder at the point guard spot. He’s really worked on his 3-point shooting and knocked one down tonight. He is really, really valuable for us for sure.”
Moody noted that Tate — who is just 22 points away from becoming a 1,000-point career scorer — is a calming influence on the floor.
“Personally my favorite thing about Jalen Tate is how level headed he is and how he can stay calm during the midst of the game,” Moody said. “In that atmosphere, coaches can get riled up and the team, it kind be a pretty heated environment. But Jalen Tate is always able to talk with a level voice, slow it down and put everything in perspective.”
Tate and Musselman were disappointed in Arkansas’ 21-point lead shrinking to 12 by game's end Wednesday.
“We have got to learn how to execute a little better down the stretch and keep our foot on their necks a little bit, don’t let those guys go on runs and not give them any hope,” Tate said. “We knew if they made couple of shots when we were up 16, it would turn into a ballgame.”