Arkansas Surges Late To Beat UCA, 100-75.

The first matchup between UCA and Arkansas in 73 years ended in a Arkansas win, 100-75. That score is a little deceiving. The Bears played very close with the Hogs for 30 minutes and even led by 10 points with 11:35 left in the 1^st half.

UCA came out firing and Arkansas came out flat. The Bears took advantage. Arkansas played lackadaisical defense and lazy offense. UCA couldn’t miss. Eric Musselman even called a timeout to rally the troops!

Arkansas came roaring back to take the lead with a 29-13 run to finish the half.

At the 9:50 mark in the 2^nd half, UCA had cut the lead to 64-58, but it was all Arkansas from that point on. The Hogs outscored the Bears 36-17 to close out the game.

Jalen Tate was outstanding tonight. The grad transfer wore a headband for the first time and I have officially deemed this the “Headband Tate” game. He had 17 points, 11 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, and ZERO turnovers. He shot 6-8 from the field and 3-5 from 3. Tate surpassed 1,000 career points in tonight’s game.

Moses Moody added 15 points and 7 rebounds. Desi Sills was great tonight with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals on 7-12 shooting. Connor Vanover had 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

JD Notae struggled in the first half going just 2-9 with 5 points, but had 17 points on 6-9 in the 2^nd half. He can score in a hurry. Like Tate, Notae also surpassed 1,000 career points.

UCA really came to play tonight. They won the rebounding battle just like they have in every game this season. Arkansas took care of the ball, but really should have been better on the boards.

It continues to feel like Arkansas settles on offense way too often. As I have said before, the shots they get are usually open, but often ignore any thought of going to the basket. At least the Hogs did shoot it better tonight from beyond the arc, 40%. With that said, 9 free throw attempts isn’t going to get it done on a nightly basis.

Arkansas is 6-0 and doesn’t play again until December 20^th when Oral Roberts comes to Fayetteville.

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