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Beverley helps Arkansas cruise past College of Charleston

Nov 16, 2007 - 3:44 AM SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Ticker) -- It was just a day at the beach for Patrick Beverley and No. 18 Arkansas.

Beverley scored 16 points as the Razorbacks posted a 75-49 victory over the College of Charleston in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday.

Reserve Darian Townes scored 11 points and Sonny Weems added all 10 of points in the second half for Arkansas (2-0), which will meet Providence in the semifinals on Friday. The Friars defeated Temple, 66-64, earlier on Thursday.

"I thought Sonny was the best player on the court in the second half," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "When you play the game that way, you get rewarded for it."

"Arkansas is big with some great athletes," College of Charleston Bobby Cremins said. "They are a good basketball team."

Beverley, whose 15 points led the Razorbacks in their opening season win against Wofford last Friday, shot 5-of-12 against Charleston, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

However, Beverley did have four of Arkansas' 26 turnovers which did not please coach Pelphrey.

"The turnovers weren't a physical thing, they were a mental thing," Pelphrey said. "I really doubt there will another game this year where [we] can turn the ball over that many times and win."

"We know we need to take care of the ball," Beverley said. "Sometimes you have games like that."

The sophomore point guard from Chicago also collected six rebounds for Arkansas, which shot 48 percent (28-of-59).

Dustin Scott scored 12 points and Antwaine Wiggins added nine and seven rebounds for the Cougars, who shot just 29 percent (18-of-62) and were outrebounded, 51-23, by the Razorbacks.

"This is tough on our kids," Cremins said. "Our team is young. I don't want this to sound like an excuse, but we are."

College of Charleston (0-2) will take on Temple in a consolation game on Friday.