Mercer hurt by second-half blitz

Mercer coach Greg Gary (left) speaks with an official during a game against Arkansas on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — It was the best of halves and it was worst of halves.

That was the summation of Mercer coach Greg Gary, who watched his team’s 10-point first-half lead quickly evaporate after intermission Tuesday night as No. 16 Arkansas stormed back to take a 74-61 win in both teams' season opener.

“The way we started the second half defensively really hurt us,” said Gary, whose team was outscored 46-25 in the second half. “Arkansas got its head up and that eight-point lead shrunk in like 30 seconds. We didn’t do a good job on ball-screen defense, and defense in general. Too many times they drive right down the paint and we didn’t take a charge.

“You have got to do that consistently against a top-20 team every time.”

Gary, whose team was one win away from an NCAA Tournament berth last season, was happy with the opportunity to play a ranked team at Bud Walton Arena.

“It was huge to be able to go into this environment against a great athletic team,” Gary said. “It was a great experience for us. We will watch the film and learn from it. I am sure it was good for them to play somebody different and it mean something. It was good for both of us and a great place to play.”

After falling behind 17-11 in the first half, Mercer rallied to take a 34-24 lead with 2:57 left before halftime.

The Bears’ first seven field goal makes were from three-point range. They made 8 of 17 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.

“I thought we did a great job the first half just moving the basketball and only having five turnovers,” Gary said. “That’s huge against a team like Arkansas that lives off turnovers. That gets them going and they get to feeling better about themselves.”

Mercer hit 13 of 27 shots from the floor in the opening half and 10 of 24 after intermission, but the Bears had 13 turnovers in the second half.

Three of those came right after halftime and led to breakaway buckets.

“In the second half, we didn’t do a very good job,” Gary said. “We knew they were going to turn it up. That’s normal. We just didn’t do a good job of handling the basketball when they turned it up and got into transition.

“Their points (21) off of turnovers got them going, and when they get easy buckets like that everybody started feeling better about themselves, and they got on a run.”

Arkansas guard JD Notae had a game-high 30 points, but also seven steals, many of which Gary equated to interception returns for touchdowns in football.

“He had 30 and shot 26 times so he did get them going, but it was more about our turnovers,” Gary said. “I think without those turnovers and steals, he only gets like 22. I’m guessing that was a big thing in the game — what I call pick-sixes. You get a a steal and it turns into dunks and threes and layups and all that stuff.”

Au’Diese Toney had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Razorbacks won the rebounding battle 38-22.

“He knows what he is,” Gary said. “He just plays hard around the basket. He is a big strong guy that does all the dirty work and the intangibles that great teams need.”

Mercer ended the night 13 of 31 from three-point range and 23 of 51 overall.

“We have a lot of people that can score the ball and shoot it. It is important that we move the ball by reversing it and getting better shots,” Gary said. "

"If we get in the paint by driving, it is really going to help us out the rest of the year. We just had too many turnovers in there.

“I love the way our guys competed, but now we have to be smarter because we do have a good basketball team."