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Arkansas uses big second half to cruise past Wofford

Nov 10, 2007 - 6:26 AM FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (Ticker) -- Patrick Beverley came to life in the second half, scoring 15 points to lead Arkansas to a 67-45 victory over Wofford on Friday night.

Darian Townes scored all 14 of his points in the first half for the Razorbacks, who won their first game under new coach John Pelphrey.

"It is great to be a Razorback," Pelphrey said. "It is a good feeling for the guys, my family and I. Wofford has a lot of starters back. We struggled for a while in the first half. Our guys were just trying to get everyone fired up, and we jacked up on the edge. Therefore, the game started out really close."

Arkansas came out flat in its season opener, going the first 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal until Townes snapped the drought with a jumper.

The Razorbacks fell behind by as much as 10-2 but finished the opening half on a 28-16 run to take a 30-26 lead into the half.

"We came out with a great tempo and stayed in the game early," Wofford coach Mike Young said. "We knew coming in that if it turned out being a high possession game, it would result in a high point differential."

Beverley, a sophomore guard, had trouble finding his shooting stroke in the first half, going 0-for-3 from the field. But Townes picked up the slack, connecting on 6-of-7 field goal attempts and two free throws.

After missing their first three field goal attempts, Arkansas went 11-of-18 the rest of the way in the first.

An 8-0 run over a four-minute span in the second half stretched the lead to 45-32 with 10 minutes remaining and the Razorbacks never looked back.

"When the second half hit, our defense started getting a little better," Pelphrey said. "Patrick, Sonny (Weems) and Gary (Ervin) stepped up their game. I thought the pressure started to get to our players. We still have a lot of work to do, now that we're hitting the road. Our team just needs to take the time to adapt to the ability."

Beverley scored 12 points in the second half while Ervin and Weems added 10 each in the game for Arkansas, which held Wofford to 39 percent (17-of-43) shooting.

"Looking at Arkansas on film, I was scared out of my mind coming into this building," Young said. "They have fine young men. I wish them the best and I expect they will do great things."