FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 21 Arkansas had Samford on the ropes much of the second half, but could never completely provide the knockout punch while winning 79-75 in Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas was up 45-35 at halftime and appeared to be set to take the game over in the second half. But Samford wouldn't go away. Samford pulled to within 48-46 on two Jadin Booth free throws with 17:12 remaining in the game. Zion Wilburn buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 57-54 with 11:43 remaining in the game. But the Hogs went on a 12-0 run at that point to go up 69-54 with 7:08 left on the clock. John Calipari his team to take Samford out of the game earlier.
"You get up 13-15 and I'm yelling, pull it out," Calipari said. "And a guy just went and shot it, they make a three, they make a two. All of a sudden, it's nine. And again, (I'm) trying to teach them how to win a game when you're at that point. We ran an offense where we were moving the ball just to use time and then go into it, and no one went into it. They all just stood and, like, 'throw me the ball.' My fault, because we've done it, but we haven't done it enough to really drill it and be there. Again, rebounding. Come on, got to come up with balls.
"If you watch the game, who was the player, the reason we won the game? One player. (crowd answers Billy) Yeah, it was Billy Richmond. And you know what Billy did? He played so hard and grabbed balls and tipped that Karter (Knox) knew, 'I'm never going to play unless I do the same.' And guess what? He's right. Why would you not play Billy and play Karter if Billy is going to do that stuff? So, what did Karter start doing the same thing. Now, we got to get our fives - the big guys - they got to get more balls. You got to be tougher. You got to play through some bumps. You got to play ahead defensively, but we'll get there."
In the win over UCA on Friday the Arkansas pair of big men, Malique Ewin and Nick Pringle, were outstanding. On Friday night, Ewin had two points and no rebounds. Pringle was limited to no points and one board. Trevon Brazile, who didn't play against UCA due to sore back, picked up the slack against Samford with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block. What was Samford doing to limit the bigs?
"They were physical, kind of like who? Michigan State," Calipari said. "They just were physical. I mean, I talked to both bigs. I'm with them. Our freshmen have gotten better in what I'm trying to get them to do, but there are still things they've got to understand. But they got better. I'm upset about the score, because who did I want to play more? Isaiah (Sealy). He looked good again. Isaiah may move into the seven, eight-man rotation. I've just got to get him on the floor."
Calipari admitted in a game like the one against Samford he leans on his older players including D.J. Wagner. The talented guard had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
"That's why I put DJ in," Calipari said. "DJ played well again. DJ is playing pretty good. We still work every day on back doors. Every day. Not for this game, I'm talking it's how we play. They probably got eight layups on back doors. And those are 100%. That's eight out of eight. You want them doing stuff away. We did a good job. I mean, the kid Jadin Booth. I mean, we guarded him, and he is scoring 30 a game right now. But then they had some guys that didn't shoot a high percentage make three in a row. Like, you say to your staff, 'Who the heck is that guy?' And they go, 'Yeah, he's making 18%.' I said, 'Not today, so let's make sure we're guarding him.' And he did a good job. No. 8, Zion Wilburn. Sheesh. How about how physical he was against our guys? He shouldered them and moved my big guys out of the way, shot layups.
"I mean, we've got a ways to go. We've got a chance of being good, but I've got to do my job. This isn't about this team. This is about me and what I'm accepting. Trying to do individual meetings to let them know. But also let them know, last year I played six guys. I'll do that again. I'll play six. You either deserve to be out there or you don't, and you've got to be responsible and don't put your performance on another player on our team. There are things that you can do to play well. Do them."
Darius Acuff Jr. topped the Hogs with 20 points while adding 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Meleek Thomas chipped in 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and 2 steals. Richmond finished with 10 points and 5 boards. Knox, who had the big game against UCA, only had 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
Samford had balanced scoring. Cade Norris had 15 points and 6 rebounds, Wilburn added 15 points, Booth 14, Dylan Faulkner 13 and Keaton Norris 11 points.
Arkansas shot 45% (28-62) from the field compared to 41% (28-68) for Samford. The Razorbacks were 6 of 17 (35%) from deep while Samford made 10 of 29 (34%). Arkansas was 17 of 22 at the free throw line while Samford made 9 of 10. The rebounding was pretty even with Arkansas having one more, 38-37. Same with turnovers the Hogs had nine and Samford just eight.
Arkansas (3-1) will host Winthrop on Tuesday night with the tip set for 7 p.m.