Razorbacks stout again, hold opponent to 43 for second consecutive game

Arkansas guard Jimmy Whitt brings the ball up the floor during a game against North Texas on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas guard Jimmy Whitt brings the ball up the floor during a game against North Texas on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, in Fayetteville.

— Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe each tallied 16 points as Arkansas leaned on its defense in defeating North Texas on Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena, 66-43.

The Mean Green's shooting matched the frigid temperatures outside. They only managed to shoot 33 percent from the field and only 12 percent from behind the arc.

North Texas (1-2) came in with an upset on their minds after taking Virginia Commonwealth to the brink last week before narrowly losing.

Jimmy Whitt, a graduate transfer from SMU who originally played for Arkansas, joined Jones and Joe in double figures with 13 after struggling in the season opener.

The Razorbacks (2-0) led 28-16 at halftime, which was the second consecutive outing that they had held their opponent under 20 points in a half.

BIG PICTURE

North Texas: The Mean Green have an ambitious non-conference schedule, as they have already played VCU and Arkansas, while still having games left against Rhode Island, No. 17 Utah State, Oklahoma and Dayton.

Arkansas: This week saw the Razorbacks begin to gain votes in the top 25 poll, and they won't leave the state until they travel to Georgia Tech on November 26.

UP NEXT

North Texas returns home to face Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

Arkansas hosts Montana on Saturday in the first game of the Collegiate Hoops Roadshow.

EARLIER

Arkansas 66, North Texas 43 - Final

The Razorbacks move to 2-0 under Eric Musselman behind a 38-point offensive surge in the second half.

Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe led Arkansas with 16 points apiece. Jimmy Whitt also chipped in 13 points. Adrio Bailey, the Razorbacks' senior forward, scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and came away with a career-high four steals in 29 minutes.

North Texas shot just 33.3 percent and made only 2 of 17 from 3-point range. Arkansas' opponents are 4 of 42 from 3-point range in two games. Mean Green forward Deng Geu scored a team-high 10 points.

We'll have much more from tonight's game later on WholeHogSports.com.

Arkansas 55, North Texas 36 - 5:48 left

Desi Sills does it again. Following a Jimmy Whitt layup set up by Mason Jones, Sills steals the UNT inbound pass and finishes at the rim, sending the arena into a frenzy. Like he did a couple of times in the season opener against Rice, Eric Musselman walked out to the SEC logo in the lane in an effort to pump up the crowd after the Mean Green called timeout. Big stretch for Sills there. He's up to seven points.

Arkansas 51, North Texas 34 - 6:41 left

Desi Sills, who by all accounts has had a tough night shooting the ball, just went coast to coast for a big layup and-1 in transition. He converts the free throw to give the Razorbacks their biggest lead of the night. It was Sills' first score in six attempts.

Arkansas 47, North Texas 33 - 7:45 left

Isaiah Joe stepped into an uncontested 3 from the right wing and buried it, pushing Arkansas' lead to 12 at the time. Adrio Bailey then had a filthy putback dunk over a UNT defender to really bring the house down. He was whistled for a class B technical foul for hanging on the rim, but it was a hell of a play in cleaning up Jimmy Whitt's missed layup.

Bailey has eight points and five boards tonight to go with four steals, which are a career-high.

Arkansas 38, North Texas 31 - 11:24 left

Rice finished last Tuesday's game missing its final 22 attempts from 3-point range. North Texas began tonight's game missing 12 of its first 13. That is a 34 of 35 stretch, but UNT guard Umoja Gibson ended that run with a big 3 at the top of the key to pull the Mean Green within seven at the under-12 timeout.

Mason Jones has a team-high 10 points for Arkansas, Jimmy Whitt has nine and Isaiah Joe has chipped in eight. Arkansas is missing Desi Sills' production. He is 0 of 5 tonight and 0 of 4 from deep, pushing him to 0 of 7 beyond the arc this season.

Arkansas 34, North Texas 26 - 15:41 left

The Mean Green are beginning to find small cracks in the Razorbacks' defense and exploit it off the bounce, but Isaiah Joe saw his first 3 of the game fall to push Arkansas' lead back to eight prior to the media timeout. It was the Razorbacks' first bucket from the floor after four consecutive misses.

North Texas forward Dang Geu has a team-high four points since the break. He has eight for the game. Arkansas' defense, too, has forced three shot clock violations tonight.

Arkansas 28, North Texas 16 - Halftime

The Razorbacks had not held an opponent under 20 points in a half since Vanderbilt in 2013 prior to the season opener against Rice. They've now done it in back-to-back first halves to begin the Eric Musselman era. Impressive stuff. This group looks very organized on the defensive end. That's a credit to the coaches and their preparation and the players' execution.

Jimmy Whitt leads Arkansas with nine points. He carried the Razorbacks' offense for a stretch in the first half. Whitt had three consecutive midrange scores during an offensive lull midway through the half. Mason Jones, Isaiah Joe and Adrio Bailey each have five points as well.

North Texas is shooting just 26.9 percent and missed on all nine of its 3-point attempts. Four Mean Green players have four points at the break.

Arkansas 19, North Texas 12 - 3:31 left first half

The Razorbacks are lifeless on the offensive end at the moment. Jimmy Whitt has Arkansas' last three buckets - all midrange jumpers. He has a team-high seven points.

Prior to the media timeout, Isaiah Joe was subbed out after he began limping and favoring an ankle following a missed 3 from the left corner. He sat for a few moments, waved off trainer Mark O'Neal twice then re-entered the game. He is 0 of 3 from the floor tonight.

Arkansas 15, North Texas 8 - 6:55 left first half

The lid finally came off the bucket for the Mean Green and they are hanging around late in the first half behind four points from Zachary Simmons. North Texas is 4 of 21 from the floor tonight.

Mason Jones continues to lead the Razorbacks in scoring, but he does not have a bucket since the game's opening minutes. Jimmy Whitt just hit a tough turnaround midrange jumper to give Arkansas a seven-point edge. Razorbacks shooting 40 percent and 2 of 7 from deep.

Desi Sills, who has not scored yet tonight, is a team-high +8 in 10 minutes.

Arkansas 9, North Texas 0 - 11:51 left first half

Terrific defensive showing from Arkansas in the first eight minutes. Razorbacks have allowed nothing easy, and North Texas can't find a rhythm offensively. The Mean Green are 0 of 11 from the floor, 0 of 4 from 3-point range and have turned the ball over three times.

The only bucket between the media timeouts was right before the under-12. Arkansas forced UNT into a tough, contested layup at the tail end of the shot clock, Jimmy Whitt rebounded and pushed the ball up the floor to Jeantal Cylla, who cashed in with a layup.

Arkansas 7, North Texas 0 - 15:39 left first half

The Razorbacks are off to another solid start on the defensive end of the floor. Arkansas also holding its own, outside of a few long rebounds, on the glass. Desi Sills has been aggressive on the defensive boards early on.

Mason Jones brought it from the jump again. He hit a long 2 from the left corner for his first score, then hit a 3 from the left wing off the dribble. Adrio Bailey has the Razorbacks' other bucket. Isaiah Joe is 0 of 2 from the floor and missed his first 3 - a catch-and-shoot opportunity in front of the North Texas bench. He is 3 of 10 on catch-and-shoot 3s so far this season.

Pregame

Arkansas' starting lineup: Isaiah Joe, Desi Sills, Mason Jones, Jimmy Whitt and Adrio Bailey.

This group played only 17 offensive possessions together in the season-opening win last week against Rice, but it outscored the Owls 20-9 and operated at a 1.18 point-per-possession clip. They shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and turned the ball over just two times. Defensively, Rice had six turnovers in that span and made only 28.6 percent of its shots inside the arc.

Also interested to find out how Jeantal Cylla plays tonight. He had a so-so debut last week. He was 2 of 7 from the floor, took a couple of ill-advised shots and had a careless turnover in transition. We'll see if he is more sure of himself and makes good, quick decisions with the ball. Adrio Bailey will also be key. He was a score and rebound shy of a double-double against Rice last Tuesday.

North Texas' starters: James Reece, Umoja Gibson, Zachary Simmons, Javion Hamlet and Deng Geu.

Simmons, a 6-10 junior forward, is the go-to guy for North Texas. He scored 14 points on 6 of 8 from the floor in the Mean Green's narrow road loss to VCU last Friday. He also turned the ball over a career-high six times. When on the floor, much of coach Grant McCasland's offense runs through him. When he's not in the lineup, Hamlet tends to run the show. Reece, a 6-4 guard, is also a threat on the perimeter. He was 3 of 9 from 3-point range and finished with nine points against the Rams.

Running updates by Scottie Bordelon of WholeHogSports.com

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