By Harold McIlvain II

Delaware State head coach Greg Jackson knew Arkansas might find success against the Hornets defense if the Razorbacks pushed the tempo and found high percentage shots.

Jackson said he felt the defense, which holds opponents to 53 points per game, did a good job in the first half.

But the Hornets faltered in the second half, allowing Arkansas to shot 81 percent from the field and score 16 points in the paint in the second half.

“We wanted to keep them out of transition,” Jackson said. “I thought for the most part we gave a tremendous effort. But we allowed them to get some easy buckets in the second half. That was the differences in the game.”

Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey said it didn’t feel at times as if the Razorbacks shot 66 percent from the field for the game, but it was a huge difference.

“It didn’t feel like that starting out because of the turnovers,” Pelphrey said. “But we felt like we could capitalized a little bit with some movement because of switching. Fast break was important to scoring.”

Arkansas finished with 11 fast break points along with 32 points in the paint and were led by freshman Marshawn Powell, who shot 8-of-11 from the field, 21 points and nine rebounds.

Welsh provides depth at point

Senior Stef Welsh came off the bench for Arkansas and finished with five points, six assists, and two rebounds during 27 minutes of play.

Pelphrey said it has been a big boost to get Welsh back at an important position and give freshman Julysses Nobles some rest after averaging over 30 minutes a game.

“Stef is giving us a big lift,” Pelphrey said. “He played well distributing the basketball and got Rotnei the ball. He is doing some things off the bench at the point guard position that we have needed.”

Not so free throw

Arkansas finished 9-of-20 from the free throw line, which something that will need to improve, Pelphrey said.

“It wasn’t good,” Pelphrey said. “Powell is a big culprit (4-of-10) there. I don’t know if he will lead the SEC in free throw percentage, but he will be better. We are fortunate enough to win a game like that because it can cost you a basketball game.”

End on a good note

The Razorbacks put together their first two-game winning streak of the season with the win Monday. But Pelphrey said the victory was even more important with a break from game action of over a week for finals.

“It is positive,” Pelphrey said. “You never like to lose and have several days to think about it. We need to focus on basketball and academics and finish strong. Once we get school out of the way, we can then focus on basketball.”

The rest will be much needed for the Razorbacks, who have several players inducing Mike Washington and Mike Sanchez along with freshman logging key minutes.

“I think we are tired,” Pelphrey said. “A lot of first year players have played too many minutes. Mike had an injury that has affected him. Sanchez is still trying to get right. Clarke needs a break. The rest won’t hurt.”

Because of playing so many early games this year, Pelphrey said it has been difficult at times practicing at length because of the schedule.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of this,” Pelphrey said. “We’ve played all these games so early with only a few days in between. We constantly only have a couple days to get ready and practice.”