FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas is hopeful the first of its seven-game homestand is its worst.
Rashad Madden scored 10 points to help the Razorbacks beat Southeastern Louisiana 62-55 at Bud Walton Arena Saturday. While happy to win, Arkansas’ players felt anything but satisfied with the manner in which they won their first game in 17 days.
“I thought it was a very ugly win; extremely ugly,” said senior forward Marvell Waithe, who scored seven points. “But an ugly win is better than any kind of loss, so I’ll take it.
“It’s not who we are. I expect us to get better.”
Keeping with its youthful inconsistency, Arkansas’ struggles Saturday were different than those during a two-game losing streak. The Razorbacks made 46 percent of their field goal attempts, but committed 15 turnovers and hit only 11 of 23 free throw attempts.
Arkansas (6-3) didn’t shoot well late in the game, failing to make a field goal in the game’s final 4 minutes, 29 seconds.
“This is just our third game in the last two weeks and I thought we didn’t quite have a rhythm,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “It just seemed like when we did get some momentum, we’d do something to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
VIDEO: Mike Anderson – Southeastern Louisiana Postgame
The Razorbacks trailed briefly against the Lions (5-4), but used a 12-0 run late in the first half to take the lead for good.
Arkansas forced six turnovers during the stretch, leading to several easy fast-break baskets. The Razorbacks finished the game scoring 24 points off 20 forced turnovers, including 10 points in transition.
After trailing by as many as five points in the first half, Arkansas led 35-30 at the intermission.
“I thought our defense was the difference in the game,” Anderson said. “We had some guys come off the bench and bring some energy.”
BJ Young, who is leading Arkansas and all Southeastern Conference freshmen in scoring, finished with six points and six rebounds. It was his lowest scoring output since the season-opener.
Young had scored 28 and 24 points in his last two outings off the bench. He started for the first time Saturday.
“I thought he was tentative and that’s a freshman for you,” Anderson said. “You want to take the pressure away from young guys and let them go at their own pace.
“He better get used to being out there on the floor, whether it be as a starter or coming off the bench. You want guys to play basketball the way they’re capable of playing, whether they’re starting or not.”
The Razorbacks were able to do enough despite Young’s uncharacteristic play. In addition to his 10 points, Madden added a career-high seven assists and four rebounds.
“I felt like he played one of his better games, when you talk about a complete game ” Anderson said. “He had five assists in the first half. He played with a lot of energy.
“I think we’ve got some guys beginning to show what they’re capable of doing. Now you want to see it on a consistent basis.”
Devonta Abron, Mardracus Wade and Rickey Scott each added eight points for the Razorbacks.
Elgin Bailey, who began his career at Mississippi State, led Southeastern Louisiana with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
