Hogs Pull Away From CSU Bakersfield

Maybe it was just the first game back from the holidays, or looking ahead to conference play, maybe even some combination of the two. Whatever it was, the Hogs had a struggle in the first half before pulling away in the second half to a comfortable 95-68 win over CSU Bakersfield.

Arkansas jumped out to an early lead but then Bakersfield ran off a 12-1 run with some hot shooting and tied things up at 38. Arkansas would go into the half with a 42-38 lead. After that it was all Hogs. A 14-2 run to start the second put the Hogs up 56-40 and they wouldn’t look back. They pulled a way with a barrage of three pointers, two from Anton Beard and another pair from Daryl Macon.

Jaylen Barford got 12 of his team leading 19 points in a separate 16-2 run that happened a couple minutes later. At the end of that run the Hogs had pulled away to an 80-55 lead. Four other Hogs joined Barford in double figures, Macon had 16, Beard had 15, Darious Hall pitched in with a career-high 14, and Dustin Thomas got all of his 10 points in the first half.

Points in the paint were a huge factor for the Hogs who had an enormous difference in size. Arkansas’ 40 points in the paint nearly doubled the output of the Roadrunners. The Razorbacks also took advantage on the boards, grabbing 11 more rebounds than CSU Bakersfield.

Now it’s time for SEC play and the Hogs come in at 10-2, a mark that probably every Hog fan would’ve taken at the beginning of the season. Now comes the tough part of the schedule and gets started with a ranked Tennessee team. They’ll be welcomed by a sold out crowd at Bud Walton Arena.