FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas overcame a sluggish start to rout Central Arkansas on Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The No. 10 Razorbacks beat the Bears 97-60 in a game UCA led with less than seven minutes remaining in the first half. Arkansas extended its home nonconference win streak to 24 games.
The Razorbacks (7-0) were favored by oddsmakers to win by 33 points, but needed a 16-5 run late in the first half to build toward a 41-35 halftime lead.
Stanley Umude scored a season-high 17 points to lead Arkansas, and Davonte Davis and Au’Diese Toney added 16 apiece. JD Notae had 10 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
The Razorbacks made 40 of 73 shot attempts, but struggled from three-point range (4 of 18) and the free-throw line (13 of 26) to keep the Bears close for a while.
Arkansas was cold from the perimeter for the fourth consecutive game. The Razorbacks are just 13 for their last 74 from three-point range.
UCA started hot from the perimeter and made 5 of its first 6 three-point attempts as it built a 24-23 lead with 6:38 to play before halftime.
Arkansas answered back with made three-pointers on three consecutive possessions by Notae, Jaxson Robinson and Umude to give the Razorbacks a 32-24 lead with 5:24 left in the first half.
UCA (1-7) never got closer than six points after that. Jaxson Baker drilled the Bears’ seventh triple of the first half with 18 seconds remaining, but Arkansas’ defense was suffocating after halftime and forced UCA into 9 of 27 shooting and 14 turnovers.
The Razorbacks opened the second half on an 11-0 run that included five points by Toney and four by Davis. Toney, who was ejected in the first minute of the second half during Arkansas’ win over Penn three days earlier, scored 14 points after halftime against the Bears.
Toney, Jaylin Williams (8 points, 13 rebounds) and Umude (8 rebounds) gave the Razorbacks a decisive advantage around the rim. Arkansas out-rebounded UCA 47-31 and outscored the Bears 60-16 in the paint.
Collin Cooper led UCA with 13 points before fouling out, and Darious Hall and Camren Hunter scored 12 apiece.
Hall played for the Razorbacks as a true freshman and was playing his first game back in Fayetteville since transferring to DePaul following the 2017-18 season. He transferred to UCA as a graduate earlier this year.
Arkansas is scheduled to play again Saturday against Arkansas-Little Rock at 3 p.m. in Fayetteville.
EARLIER
1:41, 2H - Arkansas 90, UCA 56
The Razorbacks have now emptied their bench of scholarship players tonight. Chance Moore is set to check in when play resumes.
He is the only Arkansas scholarship player who has not scored tonight.
Chris Lykes has had a nice second half. He has 6 points and 4 assists since the break, giving him 9 and 5 for the game.
6:00, 2H - Arkansas 82, UCA 48
The rout is officially on. Arkansas' depth is coming to the forefront tonight and Davonte Davis is having his best night of the season. He has a season-high 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting tonight.
The Razorbacks are on a 20-2 run over the last 6:26 of this game. Arkansas has 19 assists and 25 fastbreak points.
8:00, 2H - Arkansas 73, UCA 48
Au'Diese Toney split a pair of free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound, then Chris Lykes hit a tough fading jumper left of the lane for his first bucket since the 16:21 mark of the first half.
UCA's last score came from Collin Cooper with 9:03 left. He fouled out 12 seconds later with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 3 of 5 from deep.
Here is an updated look at the box score for the Razorbacks:
10:18, 2H - Arkansas 70, UCA 46
Jaylin Williams, Stanley Umude and Au'Diese Toney each added layups in the minute and a half since the last timeout.
Toney has 15 points, Umude 17, and Williams is up to 8 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
11:48, 2H - Arkansas 64, UCA 46
Nothing but dunks and layups for the Razorbacks between the media timeouts. Jaylin Williams added one of each – he was smiling as he rose for the dunk – and JD Notae and Au'Diese Toney each added buckets on the run.
Arkansas 21 fastbreak points tonight. It has been good to see this group get out and run, even if it has been a bit discombobulated in those situations a few times.
Toney has 11 points in the second half and 13 for the night. Jaylin Williams has 6 points and 11 rebounds.
Darious Hall and Camren Hunter each have 12 for the Bears.
15:47, 2H - Arkansas 56, UCA 41
Au'Diese Toney, after a strange first half in which he played on 9 minutes despite not battling foul issues, has scored 9 straight points for the Razorbacks and ballooned Arkansas' lead to as many as 18.
The Razorbacks have been really solid in transition offense tonight. They have 17 fastbreak points and what seems like far many more attempts in that context tonight than in previous games.
JD Notae has 8 points and 6 assists tonight. Three of his assists have come in the first 4-plus minutes of this half.
Also, Jaylin Williams took another charge, giving him 10 for the season.
18:53, 2H - Arkansas 47, UCA 35
Davonte Davis made it a point tonight, it seems, to get out and run the floor, and it's paid big dividends. He has at least 3 transition scores tonight – maybe 4 – and is up to 11 points, which is a season high.
Two of those buckets came in the first minute and change of the second half and forced a Bears timeout. Connor Vanover added a short floater off a post touch to open the half.
Half - Arkansas 41, UCA 35
The Razorbacks led by as many as 10 with about 4 minutes to play in the first half, but it was not a pretty half for either team.
Arkansas struggled mightily at the line, hitting 8 of 20 free throws. Its 3-point defense is not where it needs to be, either. UCA knocked down 7 of 10 attempts beyond the arc.
Collin Cooper leads the Bears with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting and 3 of 4 from distance.
Stanley Umude paced the Razorbacks with 15 points. He could have had a 20-point first half if he made his free throws (3/6) and a wide-open dunk in transition.
JD Notae added 8 points and Davonte Davis 7. Those two combined to shoot 5 of 10 in the half, and Notae has a team-high 3 assists.
Fairly strange that Au'Diese Toney played only 9 minutes prior to halftime. He did not have a foul to his credit. Eric Musselman just elected to sit him and get some more shooting on the floor in Jaxson Robinson.
The teams combined for 18 turnovers – UCA 11, Arkansas 7. The Bears have a 16-11 edge in fastbreak points, which I did not expect to happen in this game.
The Razorbacks shot 52% in the first half. If they cut down on turnovers and hit their free throws, this can be a runaway after the break. It would also benefit them to have more urgency defending the 3.
Jaylin Williams has a game-high 9 rebounds and one of the most emphatic blocks I've seen on a Darious Hall layup attempt.
3:17, 1H - Arkansas 36, UCA 27
The Razorbacks are on a 13-3 run over the last 2:53 and have led by as many as 10.
Stanley Umude is up to 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He's been great tonight aside from a missed dunk in transition after a beautiful bullet pass up the floor from Jaylin Williams. Umude has also knocked down a 3 from the left wing assisted by JD Notae.
Collin Cooper has not been afraid of the stage tonight. He has 11 points for the Bears on 4 of 7 shooting and 3 of 4 from deep.
Notae has 3 assists tonight and Williams has a pair. Davonte Davis has 7 points so far and has been aggressive getting out in the open floor. Like to see that.
5:39, 1H - Arkansas 29, UCA 24
After the Bears took a 2-point lead on a Darious Hall right-corner 3, the Razorbacks answered with a Davonte Davis fastbreak bucket and a pair of 3s from JD Notae and Jaxson Robinson.
That was 8 points in a 1 minute, 6 second span. UCA calls for time.
11:50, 1H - Arkansas 14, UCA 13
Pretty clear-cut winner from that last stretch of basketball between media timeouts. The Bears swing back at Arkansas and are hanging tough early on.
The Razorbacks are not playing with a great deal of energy on either end of the floor.
Stanley Umude leads Arkansas with 4 points on a pair of sweet turnaround jumpers off the left block. That shot, as I wrote about in my 5 Out column today, is his bread and butter.
Fayetteville's own Collin Cooper leads UCA with 5 points thanks to a tough layup in which he flexed on Arkansas defenders afterward and a three-pointer in Chris Lykes' face.
15:32, 1H - Arkansas 7, UCA 3
Not the prettiest start to this game for either side. There have already been a handful of jump balls, multiple missed layups and five total turnovers.
Chris Lykes, Jaylin Williams and Au'Diese Toney each have 2 points early on, and Davonte Davis split a pair of free throws after an attack of the rim that reminded me of last season. Notae assisted on Toney's score, a layup, and Lykes' bucket came after he picked the pocket of Collin Cooper high on the perimeter.
Cooper has missed 2 layups so far, including one that came five seconds into the game.
Darious Hall has UCA's lone field goal to this point, a tough, long 2 from the top of the key.
Pregame
Arkansas’ starting lineup: JD Notae, Davonte Davis, Au’Diese Toney, Jaylin Williams and Connor Vanover.
Tonight is the sixth consecutive start for this group. According to HoopLens analytics, it has scored 1.08 points per possession (39 possessions) and allowed a stellar 0.78 PPP. Opponents have shot 36.8% inside the arc and 26.7% beyond it against this lineup.
Keep an eye on Notae’s three-point shooting. Following a 9 of 21 start to the season, he is 5 for his last 30 from deep, including 2 of 13 in the last two games.
Davis has scored 4, 8 and 6 points in Arkansas’ last three games, respectively, marking the first time he has not reached double figures in back-to-back-to-back games since Dec. 30-Jan. 6 of last season. The Razorbacks would benefit from an outburst from him.
Williams leads the Razorbacks with 28 assists and 49 potential assists. He also has a defensive rebound rate of 25.1%, according to KenPom data, which ranks 86th nationally.
UCA’s starters: Darious Hall (6-7), Camren Hunter (6-3), Collin Cooper (6-2), Jaxson Baker (6-7) and Jared Chatham (6-8).
UCA is rated the No. 339 team in the country, according to the KenPom.com ratings. The Bears have a defensive efficiency rating of 110.5, which ranks 341st out of 358 teams nationally, and they have not scored more than 70 points in a game this season.
Hall played for the Razorbacks during the 2017-18 season before transferring to DePaul. In 35 games at Arkansas, he averaged 5.1 points on 3.1 rebounds over 35 games, including 5 starts. This season, he is putting up 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Hall had a season-high 19 points and 16 rebounds in UCA’s victory over Oral Roberts on Nov. 20. It is the Bears’ lone win this season. They enter play tonight 1-6 overall.
Cooper is a Fayetteville native and played high school basketball for the nearby Purple’Dogs. He is coming off a season-best 15-point performance in the team’s loss to Presbyterian on Nov. 26 and has made three three-pointers in three of the last four games.
Hunter, who is from Bryant, averages a team-high 11.9 points per game and has recorded multiple steals in five of UCA’s last six outings.