FAYETTEVILLE — At halftime of the University of Arkansas basketball team’s season opener against Mississippi Valley State, the Razorbacks were shooting a higher percentage on three-pointers than on shots inside the arc.
And the Razorbacks were shooting 50% on shots that weren’t three-pointers.
Arkansas cruised to a 142-62 victory over the Delta Devils on Wednesday night in Walton Arena with a dominating first half in which they hit 12 of 19 three-pointers (63.2%) to take a 61-30 lead.
The Razorbacks shot 56.4% (22 of 39) in the half, including 10 of 20 on attempts inside the arc.
Connor Vanover, a 7-3 sophomore from Little Rock who redshirted last season after transferring from California, led Arkansas with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 18 minutes off the bench. He hit 8 of 11 shots and 4 of 5 three-pointers.
Vance Jackson, a 6-9 graduate senior transfer from New Mexico, scored 15 points for the Razorbacks. He hit 5 of 9 shots and 4 of 6 three-pointers.
The Razorbacks cooled off in the second half when they hit 8 of 21 three-pointers — still a solid 38.1% — to finish 20 of 40.
“I thought we did a really good job of getting our feet set,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said.
Eight Razorbacks hit at least one three-pointer.
“Muss really loves three-point shooters, and us going out and knocking them down like that really made him happy,” Vanover said. “It just shows that we have a lot of threats from the three-point line.
“We’re going to all be big threats.”
Arkansas put together a 28-0 run over a 6:11 span that pushed their lead from 13-8 to 41-8 with 6:11 left.
The Razorbacks hit eight three-pointers in that stretch, including four by Jackson and two by Vanover. Robinson and Sills also hit three-pointers.
“I feel like we’re one of the most talented teams n the nation,” Jackson said. “Coach Muss, he just emphasizes putting in the work every day. Come in and get shots.”
Jackson’s first shot missed the goal before he heated up.
“It was a good makeup for the airball that I shot,” he said. “The first shot kind of slipped out of my hands. I just had to stay poised and stay focused.”
Eight Razorbacks scored at least 13 points.
Junior guard Desi Sills and freshman guard Khalen “KK” Robinson each scored 15 points.
Senior guard Jalen Tate, a graduate transfer from Northern Kentucky, had 14 points, 6 rebounds and six assists.
Arkansas freshman guard Moses Moody, junior guard JD Notae and senior forward Justin Smith, a graduate transfer from Indiana, each scored 13 points.
The Razorbacks finished with their second-highest scoring total. Their highest-scoring game was a 166-101 victory over U.S. International on Dec. 9, 1989.
Arkansas finished with 26 assists while hitting 48 of 86 shots.
“I thought we really shared the ball,” Musselman said. “I thought we took four bad shots the whole game, and the rest of the time we did [a] great job moving the basketball.”
Jackson now has 1,005 career points in his time at Connecticut, New Mexico and Arkansas.
“It feels real good, especially putting on a Razorback uniform,” Jackson said of surpassing 1,000 points. “Reaching that milestone here at Bud Walton felt great. I just want to keep going and win as many games as possible.”
When the Razorbacks went on their 28-0 run in the first half, Mississippi Valley State went a 7:25 span without scoring — and missed 15 consecutive shots — before Alexander Perry made a layup to cut Arkansas’ lead to 41-10.
Junior guard Terry Collins led the Delta Devils with 15 points.
Arkansas won its 46th consecutive home opener, including its 28 in Walton Arena.
The last time the Razorbacks lost their first home game was against Western Kentucky 102-100 on Dec. 3, 1973.
Musselman is 6-0 in season and home openers, including 2-0 at Arkansas and 4-0 at Nevada.
The Delta Devils did get to enjoy having the lead — 3-2 after a three-pointer by Kam’ron Cunningham 20 seconds into the game — before Smith dunked to put Arkansas ahead to stay at 4-3 with 17:26 left in the half.
Mississippi Valley State came into the game ranked last nationally among NCAA Division I teams by KenPom.com — a college basketball analytics website — at No. 357 after the Delta Devils were 3-27 last season.
Arkansas’ starting lineup included Jackson, Sills, Smith, Moody and Tate.
Arkansas plays defending Conference USA champion North Texas at 5 p.m. Saturday in Walton Arena. The teams also met in the second game last season when the Razorbacks beat the Mean Green 66-43.
North Texas opens the season tonight against Mississippi Valley State in Denton, Texas.