Everything Kenny Payne, Players Said After Razorbacks’ Win Over Bahamas National Team

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NASSAU, Bahamas — Arkansas rolled to a 106-59 victory over the Bahamas National Team Thursday in Nassau to begin their foreign tour in the Bahamas.

Washington, D.C., native Jordan Smith Jr. led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 7-22 shooting from the field.

“It was really fun,” Smith said. “We’ve been playing each other for like 10 weeks. I feel like we were the more excited team. When the delay happened, we were still eager to play.

The start of Thursday’s game was delayed after issues with the rim at the end of the floor that the Bahamas National Team was warming up on, but once it began, Arkansas was fully in control.

“We dominated,” Smith said.

Fellow freshman Abdou Toure scored 16 points for the Razorbacks on an efficient 7-11 night from the field.

“It was fun playing against other guys and winning,” Toure said.

While Arkansas had a solid night offensively, it was the Razorbacks’ defense that was the biggest storyline of the night. Arkansas forced 26 turnovers in the victory and pestered the Bahamas National Team all night.

“I was always told that defense wins championships from a young age,” Smith said. “I still believe in that philosophy to this day. That defensive performance that we had today was unbelievable.”

“Defense is going to be a big part in why we win games this year,” Toure said. “We’ve been locked in on our defensive things. We [were] just ready.”

Even with Arkansas leading by a wide margin in the second half, the Hogs didn’t let up on the defensive end of the floor. That was evident when Smith and the bench of the Bahamas began chirping at each other before Smith ended up 1-on-1 on defense with the player who had been talking to him.

“They [Arkansas bench] started a defensive chant, and it just got everyone riled up,” Smith said. “It got me wanting to play a little harder.”

Razorbacks’ head coach John Calipari opted to watch the game from the stands, which allowed Kenny Payne to take over sideline coaching duties for the night.

“I think for me, the biggest thing is watching these guys perform and play,” Payne said, “And how excited they were to be in that uniform and perform for the first time. Coach Cal’s been talking about for the last two weeks, at this point of the season… you’re going to be wrong 60 percent of the time.

“To see them make mistakes, but also to see them play with great energy right off the bat. We got time to continue to grow this team, and we got a lot of talent.”

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