FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has leaned heavily on its freshmen through the early part of this season.
On Wednesday, it was time for the upperclassmen to shine.
Mardracus Wade scored a career-high 20 points and Julysses Nobles added 16 to lead Arkansas to a 97-64 win over Mississippi Valley State.
Wade, a sophomore guard, hit 7 of 10 field goal attempts in the win. He had 15 points before halftime, helping the Razorbacks to a 47-30 lead at the intermission.
"He's been shooting the basketball well," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought tonight he did a good job of getting in position and knocking shots down.
"He's playing with a lot of confidence right now and he puts the time in. If you notice, the shots he's getting are in rhythm. We're making that extra pass and getting him in position to where he can knock those shots down. Good players knock them down."
Wade hit only 37 percent of his shots as a freshman but is hitting 53 percent of his shots through the first six games this year for the Razorbacks (5-1).
His biggest improvement has been from the perimeter. Wade hit 4 of 6 attempts from 3-point range Wednesday to improve to 50 percent from beyond the arc this season.
"I've got a lot better but I still need to work on it," Wade said. "I don't want to be that person that is just a spot-up shooter. I want to be able to pull up, come off screens and curls, and all that stuff.
"As time goes on and I continue to work on my game, I think I can be good."
Wade led a strong shooting performance from the entire Arkansas team. The Razorbacks made 59.3 percent of their field goal attempts in the win, including 11 of 23 from beyond the arc.
Devonta Abron scored 13 points, while BJ Young and Rickey Scott each added 11.
The Razorbacks jumped to a 15-3 lead and never trailed.
"I thought anybody we put on the floor brought positive energy," Anderson said. "The first group really got us going - we were making shots, sharing the basketball and making the extra pass.
"Our defense was the biggest difference and we shot the ball well."
Arkansas limited the Delta Devils to 31.7 percent shooting for the game while scoring 20 points off 15 turnovers.
Terrence Joyner and Cor-J Cox each scored 15 points to lead Mississippi Valley State (1-6).
"I knew Arkansas liked to play a fast pace and we like to play a fast pace, too," Mississippi Valley State coach Sean Woods said.
"When you're not making shots, you can't get into your pressure, I thought they did a good job of keeping the pedal down and making us play hard and fast, and use a lot of energy."
While the majority of its points came from its guards, the undersized Arkansas team dominated the interior. The Razorbacks scored 34 points in the paint and had 20 second-chance points in their third straight win.
Arkansas also outrebounded Mississippi Valley State 39-35.
After Arkansas jumped to the big lead, the Delta Devils used a barrage of 3-pointers to keep the game close. The visitors capped a 12-0 run to pull within 20-17 on a Kevin Burwell 3-pointer midway through the first half.
It was as close as Mississippi Valley State would get, however. Arkansas responded by scoring 11 consecutive points to extend the lead back to double-digits and put the game out of reach.
Despite the hot shooting performance, the Razorbacks did struggle from the free throw line. Arkansas made only 16 of 28 of its attempts in the win.
"That's the negative right there," Anderson said. "When I see guys go out and miss two free throws, that's just like a turnover.
"If you make those free throws then the game is really out of whack."