FAYETTEVILLE - When Alandise Harris shined for Arkansas’ basketball team in last year’s Red-White game with 10 points and 13 rebounds, that was the end of his season.
Harris, a 6-6 junior forward from Little Rock Central, starred in the Red-White game again on Sunday with 26 points and nine rebounds, and this time his season is just beginning for the Razorbacks.
“That was just a start to my Razorback career right there,” Harris said.
Last year’s Red-White game was Harris’ competitive finale because he redshirted after transferring from Houston. Now he’s part of a new group of inside players along with 6-10 freshmen Bobby Portis and Moses Kingsley.
“Alandise is another weapon we need, and he’s an older guy, too, so there’s leadership there was well,” sophomore forward Jacorey Williams said. “He’s got scoring, rebounding and physicality.”
Harris and Williams were among 10 players who scored 12 or more points as the White team won 112-102 before an announced crowd of 3,500 in Walton Arena.
Senior guard Fred Gulley and junior guard Ky Madden, who along with Harris played on the Red team, each scored 24 points.
Madden had 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals along with 6 turnovers in 37 minutes. He hit 7 of 15 fieldgoal attempts and 8 of 9 free throws.
“I thought Ky was a guy that kind of tried to take the Red team on his shoulders,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “He was distributing the basketball and trying to score and getting to the free-throw line.”
Gulley, a transfer from Oklahoma State who was able to play after the first semester last year, hit 9 of 13 shots, including 5 of 6 three-point attempts.
“Fred is very much improved from last year,” Anderson said. “I’ve been seeing him consistently knock down open shots.
“That’s a testament to him really working and trying to be a better basketball player. He’s a fifth-year senior and he’s been here a yearand-a-half, so maybe it’s time for him to come in and really help this basketball team.”
Jacorey Williams led the White team with 21 points, hitting 9 of 11 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers.
“Jacorey is playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of swag,” Anderson said. “That’s going to bode well for our basketball team.”
Williams said he still needs to make sure he’s taking the right shots, along with the rest of the team.
“I wouldn’t say that anybody has a green light,” Williams said. “Coach says if you’re in rhythm and it’s a good shot, and it’s your type shot, take the shot.
“It’s all about everybody being in the gym and getting up shots. So when it’s your turn to take that shot, you need to take it. If you’re turning it down and it’s in rhythm and we need you to take it, then you’re pretty much hurting the team really by not taking the shot.”
Sophomore forward Michael Qualls had 20 points for the White team, senior guard Mardracus Wadeand sophomore guard Anthlon Bell had 19 points each, senior forward Coty Clarke had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and senior guard Rickey Scott had 12 points and five assists.
Portis, a McDonald’s All-American from Little Rock Hall, had 18 points and five rebounds for the Red team. Kingsley had 6 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
“It’s going to be points across the board,” said Bell, who it 5 of 9 three-pointers. “I don’t think we’re going to have just one predominant scorer. The way we share the ball and the way we play, everybody’s going to get touches.”
Anderson said it’s good to have more scoring options on this season’s team than a year ago, when guard BJ Young and forward Marshawn Powell took most of the shots and combined to average 29.7 of the Razorbacks’ 73.7 points per game.
“The scoring is going to come from all across the board,” Williams said. “I feel like we’ve got a deeper bench than we had last year.
“I feel like we’ve got a lot of scoring from anywhere. It can be anybody’s night at any time.”
Harris, who averaged 13.3 points as a sophomore at Houston, figuresto do his share of scoring for the Razorbacks now that he’s eligible to play in games.
“I already knew where the scoring was going to come from,” Harris said of making up for the losses of Young and Powell. “We’re all going to have to score collectively. There never was going to be a drought in scoring.”
Sports, Pages 15 on 10/28/2013