FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas men’s basketball used the annual Red-White game to honor its past, bringing back former head coaches Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson as honorary coaches and playing in a nearly packed Barnhill Arena Saturday afternoon.
Current head coach Eric Musselman also threw a wrinkle in the game as he wanted all the current Razorbacks to honor the former coaches and players represented on both sides. While the teams were divided into “Team Eddie” (Red) and “Team Nolan” (White), the squads flipped their jerseys at halftime so the original Red team could be “Team Nolan” for the second half and vice versa.
Along those lines, the score was reset to 0-0 at halftime.
However, when all was said and done, the original “Red” team defeated the original “White” team 62-54. The Red squad raced out to a 44-21 lead at halftime, getting 21 rebounds to their opponents’ nine. When the teams switched jerseys in the second half, the momentum switched as well. The new Red team outscored their opponents 33-18 in the second half, but it was not enough to pull out the win.
The original “Red” team consisted of Adrio Bailey, Connor Vanover, Isaiah Joe, JD Notae, Jimmy Whitt Jr., Emeka Obukwelu and Ethan Henderson. The original “Red” team scored 62 points total (1st: 24; 2nd: 20; 3rd: 10; 4th: 8) – “RED” TEAM BY HALF: 44-18 for a total of 62
The original “White” team consisted of Jeantal Cylla, Reggie Chaney, Desi Sills, Jalen Harris, Mason Jones, Abayomi Iyiola and Ty Stevens. The original “White” team scored 54 points (1st: 7; 2nd: 14; 3rd: 19; 4th: 33) – “WHITE” TEAM BY HALF: 21-33 for a total of 54.
FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
- The original Red team led 15-2 to start the game as Connor Vanover and Isaiah Joe each hit two 3-pointers.
- A 3-pointer by Joe closed the first quarter and the original Red team led 24-7 after the first eight minutes.
- In the second quarter, the original White team got to within 13 (27-14) on a Mason Jones layup.
- The original Red answered with a 10-0 run, including back-to-back baskets by Adrio Baily, to push the lead to 23 (37-14).
- The original Red team also lead by 23 (44-21) at the break.
- FIRST HALF LEADERS FOR THE RED: Joe (12 pts), Vanover (10 pts), Whitt (8 pts)
- FIRST HALF LEADERS FOR THE WHITE: Chaney (9 pts), Jones, (6 pts)
SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
- The teams switched jerseys, but the teams remained intact.
- Jalen Harris got his squad going with a fast-break steal and dunk. Later Desi Sills and Jeantal Cylla went on a 4-0 run of their own.
- Overall in the third quarter, the original White team outscored their opponents 19-10, shooting 61.5 percent compared to 33.
- From the end of the third quarter to the start of the fourth, Reggie Chaney scored eight of his team’s 11 points.
- The fourth quarter saw the original White team outscored their opponents 14-8 with Cylla, Jones and Chaney each posting four points in the period.
FINAL PLAYER POINTS-REBOUNDS
RED (White 2nd half)
Connor Vanover 15 pts – 7 reb
Jimmy Whitt Jr. 16 pts – 6 reb
Isaiah Joe 12 pts – 2 reb (5 assists)
Adrio Bailey 8 pts – 7 reb
JD Notae 6 pts – 2 reb
Emeka Obukwelu 4 pts – 0 reb
Ethan Henderson 3 pts – 5 reb
WHITE (Red 2nd Half)
Reggie Chaney 19 pts – 3 reb
Jeantal Cylla 11 pts – 5 reb
Desi Sills 10 pts – 1 reb
Mason Jones 10 pts – 3 reb
Jalen Harris 2 pts – 0 reb
Abayomi Iyiola 2 pts – 5 reb
Ty Stevens 0 pts – 1 reb