Khalif Battle Hits Millenium, Powers Hogs' Second Half

Razorbacks pull away in second half, despite last-minute scare to beat Furman

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Dec 4, 2023 11:13 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Khalif Battle scored 20 of his season-high 25 points in the second half for a 97-83 win over Furman and brought his career mark to over 1000 points.

The Temple transfer provided both the spark at the beginning of the second half, scoring seven of the first 10 points out of the break, and supplying the dagger three with 9:51 left to cap the win.

"I think I had a big second-half scoring," Battle said. "I think anybody on the team can do what I did. I need to do the little things because we didn't win by a big enough margin. A thousand points is cool, but we've got to do better. Me individually, but us as a team as well."

Despite being without their leading scorer Marcus Foster, who averages nearly 20 points a game, the Furman Paladins hung with Arkansas in the opening exchanges, Despite the Razorbacks getting off its most efficient offensive start of the season, going 8-for-11 from the field, the Paladins hung tough with the Hogs.

A team that averages nearly nine triples a game, started with the hot hand hitting five of its first six from deep, including three from Alex Williams. The game was played at a furious pace with only four fouls called (all against the Razorbacks) in the opening 10 minutes and tied the game at 22.

The Razorbacks kept their shooting percentage sky-high, finishing the first half at 60%, constantly finding easy looks inside. A patented Trevon Brazile high-flying slam stretched the lead to 37-27 and capped off an 8-0 run. However, the Hogs got mixed news on the injury front. Tramon Mark came off the bench and played 25 minutes, scoring seven points. Brazile, though, sprained his ankle and did not return after leaving the game with 2:41 left.

"It’s a pretty bad sprain," coach Eric Musselman said. "Having said that, 24 hours from now we’ll know more. Nothing other than a sprain. Doctors were messing with it ... It’s already swollen.

Furman came into the game averaging nearly 28 attempts per game from beyond the arc and finished the night 12-for-32 from deep. The Paladins responded with a 6-0 run in double quick time thanks to back-to-back threes to end the half down just five, 40-35.

Chandler Lawson, one of the early unsung heroes of the season, once again was the catalyst to a huge second-half run that gave Arkansas its massive cushion. Often tasked with guarding the tallest player on the other team, Lawson once again came up with three blocks after six against Duke. He also had a key three-point play as part of a 19-point night on just 8-for-10 from the field to stretch the lead back to double digits, 63-52.

Despite the dominant second half, the Razorbacks once again struggled with the full-court press and made some late-game errors including allowing a four-point play down the stretch allowing Furman to cut the lead to seven with 1:12 left.

"We need to start having a sense of urgency in our overall game for 40 minutes," Musselman said.

The Razorbacks will look to clean up their play against undefeated Oklahoma in Tulsa, Okla. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Dec. 9. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and fuboTV.