Box Score Fayetteville, Ark. (Dec. 14, 2006) ???C Oakland placed four of its starters in double figures here tonight, but the Golden Grizzlies turned the ball over 27 times and Arkansas hit 12 three-point shots on its way to a 91-57 win over OU. Oakland was within 12 late in the first half, but Arkansas scored 11 consecutive points over the first and second halves to break open the game.
Derick Nelson (Lansing, Mich.) led the Golden Grizzlies with 16 points and eight rebounds. Patrick Beverley had the hot hand for Arkansas (8-1) at the start, hitting a pair of three-point shots and scoring eight points in the first four minutes as the Razorbacks took a 10-4 lead.
Shawn Hopes (Detroit, Mich.) brought Oakland (6-6) back close, hitting a pair of shots that brought the Golden Grizzlies back to within two. Leading 14-9, Arkansas put some padding on its lead with an 11-0 run; getting three-pointers from Vincent Hunter and Gary Ervin that put the Hogs up 25-9 at the half-way mark of the period. Arkansas got its lead up to 18 points with seven minutes left on another three-point shot by Beverley and the Razorbacks lead stayed near the 20-point mark until Oakland made its first big offensive push of the game with two minutes left in the half. Trailing by 19 the Golden Grizzlies put together a 7-0 run, getting six points from Hopes, to cut the lead down to 39-27. Arkansas came back with the last five points of the half, however, taking a 44-27 halftime lead on a buzzer-beating, three-point shot. Arkansas came out in the second half as hot as it was at the start of the game, putting nine points on the board before Oakland could score. Hunter???s three-point shot four minutes in capped off the surge, putting the Razorbacks up 53-27. The Arkansas defense did the rest, holding Oakland to 41 percent shooting and coming up with 18 steals during the contest. The closest that the Golden Grizzlies could get was 21 points after a trey from
Johnathon Jones (Okemos, Mich.) with 15 minutes to go. Arkansas then out scored Oakland 8-0 over the next four minutes, putting the Golden Grizzlies in a hole that was just too big to climb out of. Hopes finished with 12 points for OU, with
Vova Severovas (Vilnius, Lithuania) and Jones chipping in 10 each. Beverley led Arkansas with 19 points and was one of four players that had three steals. Oakland out rebounded its opponent, 31-26, but the 27 OU turnovers led to 44 points for the Razorbacks, who shot 57 percent in the contest and hit on 12 of their 21 three-point attempts. Oakland will make the long trek to California next, where No. 1 UCLA will be the next OU opponent. The Golden Grizzlies and Bruins will square off on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern in Pauley Pavilion.