Offensive Outburst Sends Arkansas Past Alabama

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FAYETTEVLLE, Ark. — A second-half scoring outburst lifted the Arkansas men’s basketball team to an 87-68 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide Wednesday evening, sending the Razorbacks to their fifth straight SEC victory.

The conference winning streak is currently the longest by any team in the SEC. Arkansas (17-5, 6-3 SEC)  has won each of its last three home conference games by double-digits and led by at least 17 points in each affair.

Coming into the game with only one double-digit scoring effort on the season, senior Manuale Watkins led Arkansas in the first half with 10 points off the bench, the most points of his career in the opening half. The Razorbacks outscored the Crimson Tide 19-4 in bench points in the first period and took an 8-point lead to the locker room.

After trading scores for the first few minutes following the break, Arkansas used a 24-6 run to pull away from the Tide 63-39 with 10:23 to play in the game. Jaylen Barford was the spark for the run, scoring not only the first nine points for Arkansas, but also assisting on two baskets, including an Adrio Bailey alley-oop slam to bring the Bud Walton faithful to their feet. Barford finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Razorback bench played a major factor once again, outscoring the Tide 40-23. Bailey was everywhere in the second half, as the freshman put up seven points, three rebounds and pinned an Alabama lay-up against the glass.

Dusty Hannahs led all scorers off the bench with 19 points, going 5-of-6 from deep and 7-of-9 from the field in just 17 minutes of action. His five 3-pointers tied a season-high and marked his second 5-of-6 performance from long range this year.

Arkansas was hot from deep, shooting 11-of-23 (.478) from behind the arc. It marked the third time this season the Razorbacks sank 10 or more three-pointers in a game.

Moses Kingsley scored 11 of his 15 points from the charity stripe, to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.

WHAT MIKE ANDERSON IS SAYING
“I thought from start to finish our guys brought the energy and intensity on defense. We tested their depth, and it was our depth vs. their depth, and when you have a guy like Dusty Hannahs coming off of your bench, that’s a big plus for us.”

UP NEXT
Arkansas will travel to Columbia, Missouri, this weekend to face the Missouri Tigers Saturday night at 5 p.m. on SEC Network.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.