Barcelona, Spain – Arkansas was down early before outscoring the Catalan Elite 29-19 in the second quarter en route to a 99-86 win in Game 2 of the Razorbacks’ Foreign Tour on Thursday.
Arkansas was led by Kamani Johnson’s double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds) while Nick Smith Jr. and DaVonte Davis each scored a game-high 17 points. Overall, seven Razorbacks scored in double figures, including Trevon Brazil (14 points), Ricky Council IV (13 points), Jordan Walsh (12 points) and Barry Dunning Jr. (10 points). Council and Walsh each had seven rebounds.
The Razorbacks were prone to early turnovers and were down eight men (12-4) to start the first quarter. Arkansas recovered and he was 4 down (24-20) at the end of the first period.
A council triple and back-to-back buckets by Brazil tied the game at 27 to start the second quarter. The teams basically exchanged baskets until Dunning converted a fast-breaking layup – from a council steal – to give Arkansas their first lead (30-28) with 7:30 remaining. Two and a half minutes later, the score was tied at 34, with Smith’s triple giving the Hoggs an unyielding lead. The Catalan Elite quickly tied the game with him on 37, but Walsh and Dunning on his 10-0 run he accounted for all 10 points. This included Walsh’s two dunks and Dunning’s one of his, and Arkansas never looked back.
Arkansas used an early 7-0 run to take the first of two 16-point leads in the third quarter. In the final seconds of the third quarter, Walsh scored a steal, sent the ball to Dunning, and Smith hit a layup, the buzzer sounded, ending the period with a 70–58 cushion.
The Razorbacks had a game-high 17-point lead (88-71) with 4:21 left in the game and maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game.
Arkansas outscored the Catalan Elite 41-22 in rebounding, but had 21 assists and 23 turnovers. Meanwhile, Arkansas forced him to make 20 turnovers thanks to his 13 steals.
Arkansas will play 3 of 4 games against Orange 1 Basket Bassano in Como, Italy on Sunday (August 13) at 7:30 PM / 12:30 PM CT. Game 4 is also scheduled for Tuesday at Como.
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