Saving Day for Hogs: Toney's Rebounding, Williams' Defense Avoids Disaster
It was painfully clear Sunday afternoon Arkansas was struggling, just about everywhere.
Fans are glad Au'Diese Toney did what you expect graduate transfers to do — pick up the slack on defense and rebounding.
The Pittsburgh transfer scored just 10 points, but grabbed 15 rebounds (9 on the offensive end) to overcome a 14-point deficit for a hair-raising 77-74 win in the first exhibition game against East Central (Oklahoma) at Bud Walton Arena.
"It was a shocking moment," Toney said later about getting so far behind. "They came out swinging. We just have to bounce back from that, knowing that most of us had never played together."
Jaylin Williams in exhibition opener against East Central.
Andy Hodges
He gave a lot of the credit to 6-10 center Jaylin Williams, who had 10 points, 9 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists.
Toney gave him a lot of the credit.
"Jaylin was the biggest key of the comeback really," Toney said. "Blocking shots and just keeping the ball out of the rim. He gave us that spark and we went right on with him."
It got the team's attention.
"The media hype is nothing," Toney said. "You've still got to come out and play and deserve what you get. We've still got a lot of work to do going forward.
"That's why we take these games and learn from them."
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