Razorbacks defeat Cougars, earn 7th win of season

Razorbacks defeat Cougars, earn 7th win of season

Arkansas continues to rebound from last year, improve to 7- 1 on the with victory over Houston

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Arkansas Razorbacks (7-1) rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat the Houston Cougars (6-2) 8472.

The Razorbacks found a huge spark in the play of sharp-shooter Dusty Hannahs. The senior, who led the Razorbacks in scoring last year, hasn’t spent much of his career on the bench. However, that’s exactly where he has started the last two games after dealing with a rare shooting slump to start the season. Hannahs responded in a big way, scoring 17 points in 17 minutes in the Razorbacks victory over Houston. Hannahs has connected from downtown on five of ten attempts in his last two games while coming off the bench.

” I just tried to stop thinking about (missing shots), even though it was impossible to stop thinking about it because I was just watching so many misses happen,” Hannahs told The Associated Press. “I was relaxed the last game and relaxed this game, and I think it’s smooth sailing from here on, hopefully.”

Hannahs pumped in 17 points on the night, 10 of which came in the first half.

The Razorbacks also received plenty of help from Hannahs’ teammates such as first-year junior Daryl Macon who added 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Moses Kingsley who pitched in 14 points as well as grabbed eight rebounds.

With 17:10 left to play in the second half Manuale Watkins dished the ball to Macon who drained a shot from three and gave the Razorbacks a 39-37 lead.

The basket represented the first lead for Arkansas since the 2:12 mark of the first half.

Houston regained the lead at the 16:17 mark of the second half on a lay-up by Rob Gray Jr. However, Houston did not stay on top for long as Kingsley made a lay-up on an assist by Galen Robinson Jr., in order to put the hogs back on top. Arkansas did not look back, holding onto the lead for the remainder of the game.

But the story of the night was Hannahs returning to form and finding rhythm in limited playing time.

However, Hannahs title of “bench player” is nothing more than a technicality according to Arkansas Head Coach Mike Anderson.

“Look how efficient he is,” Anderson told The Associated Press. “I think the key is getting playing time. Like I said, he’s still a starter in my mind.”

The victory over the Cougars is Arkansas’ fourth straight and seventh on the season with their only loss coming to Minnesota on November 22nd. The Razorbacks have a relatively soft next four games with their biggest challenge coming in the form of 6-3 North Dakota State.

However, the conference schedule for the Razorbacks kicks into fullgear right away with a tough matchup as Arkansas will host the No. 21 Florida Gators on the 29th at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

By Collins Peeples