FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Mike Anderson had a brief pep talk for junior guard Jaylen Barford at halftime of the Razorbacks’ game Friday against Texas-Arlington.
“Coach said some words to me that made me push myself and be aggressive,” Barford said. “Just play more defense and be everywhere on the floor and help my team for the win.”
The impact of the conversation was evident in the second half. Barford scored 13 of his game-high 17 points and had all three of his steals after halftime to help the Razorbacks rally from an 11-point halftime deficit for a 71-67 home win over UT-Arlington.
It was easily the best performance of the young season for Barford, one of three junior college transfers adjusting to Division I basketball. He scored nine points in a 20-2 run to open the second half, including eight straight to give the Razorbacks a 46-45 lead, their first of the game, much to the delight of a crowd of 6,623.
“You saw him kind of take command out on the floor,” Anderson said. “… He’s a guy that can facilitate and make plays, whether it be for himself or others. We saw that tonight.”
Arkansas (3-0) never trailed again, but needed some late-game shotmaking from junior guard Anton Beard to hold off the Mavericks (1-3) and guard Erick Neal, who scored five of his 15 in the final two minutes. Beard scored all 12 of his points in the second half and knocked down a long step-back jumper to extend the Razorbacks' lead to 69-64 with less than a minute left.
“Anything under five (seconds on the shot clock), i’m probably going to shoot it,” Beard said. “That’s what the team be laughing at me about. But at those times, I just try to attack and make something happen.”
The second-half rally against a team playing its fourth game in seven days canceled out an underwhelming first half for the Razorbacks on both ends of the court. Arkansas shot just 31 percent from the floor while UT-Arlington knocked down 8 of 15 from 3-point range as it built a big lead.
The Mavericks scored the game’s first 11 points and led 25-8 on the strength of five early 3-pointers and several fast-break buckets against a lagging Arkansas defense.
“I think we came out with the wrong mindset,” Anderson said. “I thought we came out thinking this was going to be an easy game. There’s not many teams that (will) come out an outplay us. I thought they out-energy, out-efforted us in the first half.”
But the Razorbacks rallied in the second, thanks in large part to Barford and Beard, who picked up the slack with seniors Moses Kingsley and Dusty Hannahs having off nights. Hannahs couldn’t get shots to drop, finishing 2 of 10 from the floor. UT-Arlington swarmed Kingsley in the paint. He finished with five points on just 2 of 5 shooting.
Arkansas’ defense was also critical to the comeback. After the first-half issues, the Hogs held UT-Arlington to 4 of 14 3-point shooting in the second and forced 12 turnovers after intermission, leading to 19 points off turnovers.
“We were a little bit up tight,” UT-Arlington coach Scott Cross said. “Our guys got to learn to relax a little bit. It’s hard. We’ve been on the road six straight days. Things aren’t going to go quite as easy as when you’re playing at home.”
Neal hit a 3-pointer to cut Arkansas’ lead to 69-67 with 41 seconds left, but, in fitting fashion, Barford was fouled, went to the line and sank two free throws to essentially ice the game with 25 seconds left.
“In the first two games, it probably looked like I was very bad, which I knew I was bad,” Barford said. “But I’m getting comfortable, acclimating to the team. I’m just having fun and playing free.”