University of Arkansas men’s basketball team opened the season with a 99-65 win over SIU-Edwardsville on Friday night.
The Hogs used a 31-4 first half run and five players in double figures to almost reach the century mark.
“I’m proud of our guys’ effort tonight,” said head coach Mike Anderson. “With our style, we need to build off of our defense and tonight we did that by capitalizing off turnovers. This is a team that will have a lot of balance throughout the year and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a different guy leading us every night.”
Anthlon Bell poured in a career-high 18 points on the strength of 5-of-6 from three-point range. Michael Qualls finished with 16 points and five rebounds. In all, the sophomore class supplied 46 points.
Making his debut as a Razorback, redshirt junior Alandise Harris came off the pine for 15 points to lead an Arkansas bench that contributed 42 points.
Arkansas’ leading returning scorer and rebounder, senior Coty Clarke led the way on the glass with eight caroms that were part of a 42-34 advantage for the Razorbacks. Included in those 42 rebounds were 16 on the offensive end, as nine different players grabbed an offensive rebound. Clarke also added 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers.
Arkansas will return to Bud Walton Arena on Friday, Nov. 15, when it hosts Louisiana-Lafayette. Tip is slated for 7 p.m.
