FAYETTEVILLE — Daryl Mason and Jaylen Barford came off the bench to spark Arkansas to an 89-76 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Monday in front of 4,256 at Bud Walton Arena.
Mason scored 15 points and Barford 13 as the Hogs put five players into double figures. After committing 21 turnovers in a loss six days ago at Minnesota, the Razorbacks suffered only seven against the Mountaineers and led by as many as 21 with 6:41 to play.
The junior college guard tandem had started in each of the Hogs' first four games, but coach Mike Anderson inserted veterans Manny Watkins and Anton Beard in the starting lineup to take their place. The Hogs quickly took control when Mason and Barford entered at the first media timeout.
"Daryl and Jaylen were both real effective and Dustin Thomas was the highlight guy in the first half," Anderson said.
As far as the lineup change, Anderson said, "You are going to see eight or nine different starters this year. Write that down. We wanted (Macon and Barford) to see the game from a different perspective."
Forward Dustin Thomas added 13 points, including making his first 3-pointer of the season. Dusty Hannahs scored 12 and Anton Beard 11.
Anderson wanted to see more assists than turnovers after what he called a "sloppy" performance at Minnesota.
"We had a different focus, a mind set," Anderson said. "It was something we addressed. We put an emphasis on that."
Anderson said he wanted a more free approach on offense.
"We made good decisions," Anderson said. "We didn't try to make those 50-50 passes (like at Minnesota). We were not sloppy. At Minnesota, we'd go inside and try to make a pass that wasn't there. We played a lot more on instincts."
The Hogs were credited with 20 assists. Manny Watkins and Moses Kingsley led the way with four apiece. Kingsley had three turnovers, but no one else had more than one turnover.
Arkansas (4-1) used an 11-0 run for a 16-5 lead when Anderson went to his bench with five subs at the 14:51 mark in the first half. Macon hit a 3-pointer and Barford added a pair of driving layups to highlight the run.
The biggest Arkansas lead in the first half came after Barford and Anton Beard hit back-to-back threes to make it 43-31 at the 2:30 mark. The Mountaineers closed it to 43-37 at halftime.
Mount St. Mary's (1-7) stayed close in the first half on the scoring of guard Elijah Long. The 6-foot Canadian scored 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting, 2 of 3 on 3-pointers. He finished with 24 points.
The Hogs used a 17-4 advantage on fast break points for their first-half lead.
Arkansas pushed the lead to 70-53 with an 11-0 run that included 6 of 8 foul shooting. Macon started that spurt with a 3-pointer. Barford also hit a 3-pointer, then followed with an old fashioned 3-point play to make it 78-57 with 6:41 to play.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to host Stephen F. Austin on Thursday.