FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas basketball team dominated Georgia on Saturday, especially with freshmen Moses Moody, Davonte Davis and Jaylin Williams on the court together.
Arkansas rolled to a 99-69 victory over the Bulldogs in Walton Arena and the Razorbacks outscored Georgia by 27 points in the 15:42 with the freshman trio in the lineup.
“The three of them were fantastic,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said.
Moody and Davis helped the Razorbacks (10-2, 2-2 SEC) be at plus-33 points when either was in the game, and Williams was at plus-29.
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“We really don’t look at it as us being freshmen,” said Williams, a 6-10 forward from Fort Smith. “We just try to do whatever we can to help the team. I’m pretty sure all three of us just came into the game trying to do whatever we could to help the team get the W.”
Moody, a 6-6 guard from Little Rock, had a season-high 25 points, surpassing his 24-point game against Texas-Arlington.
Davis, a 6-3 guard from Jacksonville, also had a season-high 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Williams scored had 2 points, but had 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 charges taken.
“I know the team needs a guy that will come out there and be an energy player,” Williams said. “I’ll dive on the floor if I need to, take a charge or go hard for the extra rebound. I try to come in the game and play as hard as I can.”
Moody and Davis were the first Arkansas freshman combo to score 20 or more points in the same game since Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman had 26 and 22, respectively, in Tennessee’s 101-91 victory over the Razorbacks on Feb. 16, 1993.
A year later, Williamson and Thurman led Arkansas to the national championship.
“That’s amazing,” Davis said of he and Moody accomplishing something as freshmen last done by Williamson and Thurman. “That’s something to be proud of. That’s history, basically.”
What made it better for the Razorbacks on Saturday is that they won — and by 30 points over an SEC team.
It was the largest margin of victory for Arkansas in 40 games against Georgia, surpassing an 89-67 pounding in 2009.
The Razorbacks also had their largest winning margin in an SEC game in Musselman’s two seasons. The largest margin had been 20 points in a 75-55 victory over Vanderbilt last season.
“I thought it was as good of a game as we’ve had conference-wise since I’ve been here,” Musselman said.
Arkansas also got big games from point guard Jalen Tate and forward Vance Jackson, both senior graduate transfers.
Tate had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists and Jackson matched his season-high with 15 points.
“I thought Jalen was great,” Musselman said. “He didn’t force any shots, he got to the rim. He was drawing free throws, taking care of the ball.”
Georgia (7-3, 0-3 SEC) was within 49-43 before the Razorbacks outscored the Bulldogs 39-10 over an 11:36 span to move ahead 88-53 with six minutes left.
Williams started the run with a layup and Davis ended it with an assist from Tate, who had stolen the ball from Georgia point guard Sahvir Wheeler.
“They punched us in the mouth early in the second half and we didn’t respond to it,” Bulldogs Coach Tom Crean said. “We had nobody respond to it, and nobody took the bull by the horns so to speak to rally the team.”
Moody bounced back from his lowest-scoring game of the season when he had six points and shot 1 of 8 in Tennessee’s 79-74 victory over the Razorbacks on Wednesday night. He shot 9 of 15 on Saturday.
“Moses is one of our top scorers, so we’re not worried about Moses at all,” Davis said. “As long as he stays in the gym and gets his shots up, he stays consistent.
“He had a rough game and came back, and you see what he actually can do.”
The Razorbacks had a pregame shoot-around about 10:15 a.m.
“We got up this morning, we shot, and when I walked in Moses had already done his full shooting routine,” Musselman said. “And I got in there 20 minutes before practice today.
“So I think he was focused and ready to play.”
Off the bench the Razorbacks got 12 points form junior guard JD Notae and 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists from junior guard Desi Sills.
It was the first game Sills didn’t start this season. He was a combined 1-of-11 shooting the previous two games and didn’t score at Tennessee.
“We just wanted Desi to be comfortable,” Musselman said. “I thought he was a little discombobulated the last two games. We wanted him to relax
“I thought he was so great last year off the bench for us. I thought he kind of got into his groove after the first couple minutes of the game.
“But we want Desi to be aggressive. We want him to play free of mind. I think today was a step in the right direction.”
Sophomore forward Toumani Camara led Georgia with 15 points. Wheeler had 14 points, but also five turnovers with Davis guarding him most of the game.
“Everyone on the team has been telling me I’m probably one of the best defenders that they’ve played with, so I just take that and run with it,” Davis said. “I’ll just keep getting better on the court, on defense and the offensive end just trying to improve my game.”
Davis hit 9 of 14 shots and was especially effective driving to the basket.
“Just just taking what the defense gives me,” Davis said. “They gave me lanes, so I’m going to take the opportunity to do what I have to do.”