The Hogs needed a get-right game after two closer-than-they-should-have-been wins over Samford and Winthrop, and they got it on Friday night in Jackson State. The Tigers – who had lost to their three previous ranked teams by 30-plus points each – were no match for the Razorbacks in a 115-61 final.

The Hogs scored their most points of the John Calipari era while throwing down 16 dunks. Hopefully this was a good confidence-building game for several guys.

Things like 3-point shooting and fouls are variables that can shift from game to game, but the biggest and most consistent indicators of a good team or a bad team can be found in those three stats at the bottom, which represent the easy points. Arkansas won points off turnovers 38-2, fast break points 34-4, and points in the paint 56-20. The Hogs did exactly what they needed to do against a very bad team.

The Hogs did everything well, but this one is certainly up there on the list of all-time shooting performances. Arkansas shot 78% from the paint – where they took more than half their shots – and managed 75% eFG% on 3-pointers (that’s 50% raw).

The turnover-forcing and 38 points off of them was nice to see, since that’s been a weakness… but Jackson State is also really bad. Still, it would be concerning if they weren’t able to do something like that against this opponent.

We’ve replaced simple game score with a Box Contribution statistic that estimates the player’s total contribution to the final scoring margin. It is a form of single-game Box Plus Minus, which you can read about here (our methodology is identical), and it uses both box score stats and team offensive and defensive efficiencies while the player is on the floor. The number is adjusted for quality of opponent, so the contributions of all Arkansas players who participated adds up to plus-31 rather than the actual final margin of plus-54 (Jackson State is much worse than the average team).

DJ Wagner walks away with game MVP honors here after an ultra-efficient performance. But check out Malique Ewin coming in second place in just 14 minutes. Obviously quality of opponent was a factor, but maybe this will be a jumpstart he needs to be more productive on offense.

Highlights

Up next

The next one is a big one: Duke on Thanksgiving in Chicago. The Hogs really need to split the next two – Duke and then Louisville at home – or they will likely drop out of the top-25. It won’t be easy, but we’re about to find out just how good this team is right now.