Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Arkansas grabbed 45 rebounds Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena, and that was the biggest reason Arkansas vs. Robert Morris turned into a 76-53 win for the Hogs. Robert Morris finished with 21 rebounds.
That basically tells the whole story after the Colonials started the game fast until John Calipari got things straightened out. A lot of that was defense and getting rebounds.
The Razorbacks came in ranked No. 19 in one poll and No. 20 in the other. They pulled down 14 offensive rebounds and got 16 second-chance points out of them, and RMU got none.
Cooper Bowser was a big reason why. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double, and three of those points came on dunks. Arkansas had eight dunks in all.
Billy Richmond III scored 16 to lead the team. JJ Andrews had 11 points and six rebounds, so he came up just short of a double-double.
Davion Thompson came off the bench and scored 15 points. He also led the team with seven assists, and he’s only 17.
His 15 points are the second-most ever for a 17-year-old Razorback. No 17-year-old has ever had more assists in a game for Arkansas.
Arkansas made 31 shots, and 25 of them came on assists. That’s a lot of passing from a team that couldn’t find the rim at all for the first few minutes.
A slow start at Bud Walton
The Hogs started Jordan Smith Jr., Jeremiah Wilkinson, Richmond, Miikka Muurinen and Bowser. None of them scored early on.
Samuel Obenjo put Robert Morris up first with a layup at 18:42. Arkansas didn’t get its first points until Richmond scored with 15:32 left in the half.
RMU made 11 of its 26 shots in the first half, which is 42%. It forced seven Arkansas turnovers in that half too, which helped it hang around.
The Razorbacks finally got going with a 17-3 run that included 12 straight points, and they went up 39-28. Muurinen had three assists in the first half, and his five rebounds led the team at the break.
Robert Morris didn’t score again until there were eight seconds left in the half. Arkansas went to the locker room up 39-30.
The Hogs had lost to Virginia on Sunday. Going scoreless for the first few minutes at home a few days later wasn’t the start they needed.
Second-half push puts it away
Robert Morris kept it close for a while after halftime. With 12:25 left, Arkansas was only up 50-45.
From there the Hogs outscored RMU 24-5. The lead got as big as 24 points, and Robert Morris never got close again.
A lot of that came in transition. Arkansas didn’t score a single fast-break point in the first half, but it had 18 in the second. It also cleaned up the turnovers and had only three after halftime.
Wilkinson, one of the five starters, finished plus-19 in the second half.
Ace Valentine scored 13 points to lead Robert Morris. The Razorbacks are now 2-0 all-time against RMU.
Arkansas stays home for its next game. Central Arkansas comes to Bud Walton Arena on Friday, Nov. 13, for a 7 p.m. tip on SEC Network+.
