Arkansas forward Adou Thiero attempts a free throw during Saturday's game against UTSA at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. (Photo by HawgBeat)
FAYETTTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (7-2) overcame a five-point halftime deficit Saturday for a comeback 75-60 win over the UTSA Roadrunners (3-5) at Bud Walton Arena.
Turnovers and stagnant offense plagued the Razorbacks in the first half, but that quickly changed right out of the gate in the second half. Arkansas out-scored UTSA by 20 points in the final 20 minutes.
Junior forward Adou Thiero continued his hot start to the season with 26 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one block. Guard Johnell Davis scored 13 points and hit three 3-pointers, while freshman guard Boogie Fland had seven assists and forward Jonas Aidoo had two blocks.
Arkansas shot 52.8% from the field, 33.3% from three and 73.7% from the free throw line. The Razorbacks out-rebounded the Roadrunners, 38-22, and they more than doubled them up on assists (15-7). Arkansas also out-scored UTSA by 18 points in the paint on the afternoon.
Making his first start of the season, Aidoo grabbed a defensive rebound and slammed a dunk home on the other end to start the game for Arkansas. He struggled over the next stretch, however, as he was 1-for-5 from the field at the first media timeout, but the Hogs still led 9-6 by that point.
Both teams engaged in some physical play over the next stretch and that went in favor of the Roadrunners, who tied things up by the midway point of the first half. The Razorbacks were doubling up UTSA in the rebounding department (14-7) by the 7:50 mark, but the Hogs had six turnovers compared to none by the road team and they only led 17-15.
UTSA knocked down its second three of the game just past the five-minute mark and that gave the Razorbacks their first deficit, 22-21, of the game to that point. The Roadrunners extended their advantage to four points by the final media timeout of the first half, and there was little-to-no energy inside the building as the teams went to their benches.
With all of the momentum swinging towards UTSA, Arkansas guard D.J. Wagner managed to hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the half to make the 32-27 deficit look a little better.
Arkansas started the second half as if they just got chewed out at halftime, and sure enough, they went on a 8-0 run to take a 35-32 lead to start the half. UTSA cut the deficit to one, but the Hogs then went on a 7-point run, which featured Davis' third 3-pointer, to take a 46-38 lead into the under-12 minute timeout.
The Razorbacks began to pull away with the help of some high-flying dunks from Trevon Brazile that were part of a 17-5 run that extended the lead to 13 points by the 8:44 mark for the Hogs.
UTSA continued to stick around, but it remained unable to get the deficit back to single digits. Fland finally got involved with a pair of shots around the 6-minute mark and Davis hit a layup to put the Razorbacks ahead 69-55 at the final media timeout with 2:45 remaining.
Thiero managed to secure a double-double down the stretch while also getting his total to 26 points on the afternoon before the final buzzer sounded with the Hogs ahead 75-60 on the scoreboard for their seventh win of the season.
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel to New York City for a matchup in the Jimmy V Classic with the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on ESPN.
