HawgBeat - Battle breaks records in Arkansas' second-straight SEC win
Arkansas Razorbacks basketball guard Khalif Battle went scorched-Earth in the Hogs' win over Missouri on Saturday.
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Arkansas guard Khalif Battle pushed the Razorbacks over the hump in record-breaking fashion with a 88-73 victory against the Missouri Tigers inside Bud Walton Arena on Saturday for the Hogs' second-straight SEC win.
In the first half alone, Battle went scorched-earth with a team-leading 16 points and three rebounds while shooting 4-6 from the field (66.7%). He hit two threes and looked like the player that Razorback fans expected after transferring in from Temple.
"That’s about as great an offensive performance as a player could have," head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. "Because when you look at the efficiency of only 15 field goals and to get 42 points, I mean that’s insane. He’s done a great job all year of drawing free throws and he went 14-of-14 from the foul line. The six defensive rebounds, that’s probably as good a night as he’s had from a defensive rebounding standpoint.
"The theme coming into the game was we had to get a shot on goal. We couldn’t have live-ball turnovers and he did a great job. He played 37 minutes and 34 seconds and didn’t have a turnover while scoring 42 points. Kind of unheard to be honest."
The third-straight double-digit performance for Battle, he continued to flash in the second half with a true three-level game that included deep threes, sidestep midranges and tough finishes at the rim.
"I think coach earlier this year, he said if I got a red light, I’m still going to make it green," Battle said after the game. "Anybody could tell me, the President of the United States can tell me to stop shooting the ball, I’m still going to shoot the ball, I’m going to be honest. That’s just who I am, that’s what I do. My grandma always says, ‘when you know who you are, you know what you do.’ I know who I am, and I know what I do. I’m a scorer."
Battle finished the game with a career-high 42 points, six rebounds and one assist while shooting 11-15 from the field (73.3%), 6-10 from beyond the arch (60%) and 14-14 from the charity stripe (100%). Even more impressive, he did all of that with zero turnovers. For the season, the 6-foot-5 senior is now averaging 11.8 points per game. He earned high praise from fellow guard Davonte Davis.
"I was on the free throw line and kept looking at the scoreboard, ‘like dang, going up and up,' Davis said after the game. "But, he played really good. Excited for him. I was asking him in the middle of the game, ‘Is this your career high?’ I didn’t know. So it was amazing I was able to watch it, get a few assists from him, making the shots that he was making. So, it was a good performance from him."
The last time an Arkansas player scored 40+ points was against Auburn on Feb. 4, 2020, when Mason Jones hit that total in electric fashion. Battle now stands at 7th all-time on the Razorback leaderboard for individual points scored in a single game, behind players like Martin Terry, Todd Day, Dean Tolson and Rotnei Clarke.
Battle's 42 points are the most scored by an SEC player this season. The second-most came from Texas A&M's Wade Taylor IV, who scored 41 points against the Razorbacks on Jan. 16.
According to HogStats, Battle scored 47.7% of Arkansas' points against Missouri — the 18th-highest percentage by a Hog since 1981-82. On top of that, his Game Score rating of 39.4 is the third-highest by a Razorback since 1996-97 and best in an SEC game in that span.
:Yeah, this is the hardest basketball year I’ve ever had, ever," Battle said. "Like, my first time — even this summer I broke my foot, so I was out for the whole summer. Then I got cleared like a week before, then I’m playing Purdue, the number one team in the country. We get that win, I’m out of shape, I’m ready to throw up all the time and now we’re going to the Bahamas and it’s three games in three days, my body wasn’t ready for it. Then, sometimes you’re not playing, sometimes you are playing.
"Just always head up, it’s not going to be everybody’s night all the time. I think this year for me was an NBA rookie year, it’s not going to be your team, it’s not going to be your way, but you got to find a way to earn your minutes and you got to be the first one in the gym, work hard in practice. Pay attention in the film room, I mean this is the hardest year I’ve had playing basketball, so to have these results means the world to me."
Up next, Arkansas (14-13, 5-9 SEC) will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (7-19, 2-11 SEC) inside Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will broadcast on the SEC Network.
