National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Arkansas 72, South Alabama 60
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 21, 2013
Where: Verizon Arena, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Officials: # James Barker, # John Heatly, # Jeff Smith
Attendance: 10627

Arkansas 72, South Alabama 60: Freshman Bobby Portis scored 15 points to lead the host Razorbacks to their fifth straight victory.

Rashad Madden added 12 points while Michael Qualls scored nine of his 11 in the second half for Arkansas (9-2). Alandise Harris recorded 10 points and six rebounds while Coty Clarke contributed seven points and eight rebounds.

Antoine Allen scored 21 points for the Jaguars (6-6), who fell to 0-5 on the road with their third loss in four games. Augustine Rubit, who entered the game averaging 18.9 points, was held to eight and was 2-of-8 from the field, but registered game highs with 10 rebounds and four assists.

The Razorbacks took control in the first half with an 11-0 run - capped by seven straight points from Portis - to take a 32-18 lead 2:29 prior to the break. The Jaguars trimmed the lead to nine at intermission and after trailing by as many as 12 in the second half, cut the lead to 46-43 on a pair of Rubit free throws with 9:09 left.

Arkansas responded with a 8-2 spurt with Mardracus Wade providing five of the points and Qualls scored seven straight Razorback points to make it 61-49 with 5:17 remaining. Arkansas extended the lead to as many as 15 down the stretch en route to its ninth straight victory for the month of December.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rubit has 1,009 career rebounds and is two shy of surpassing Arkansas-Little Rock's Muntrelle Robbins to become the top rebounder in Sun Belt Conference history. Rubit is the three-time defending Sun Belt rebounding champion and South Alabama's career leader. ... Arkansas' bench scored 27 points after entering the game averaging 40.9. ... The Razorbacks, who began the week seventh in the nation in turnover margin at plus-5.2, failed to finish with more assists (11) than turnovers (14) for the first time this season.
Top Game Performances
 
South Alabama   Arkansas
Antoine Allen 21 Scoring Bobby Portis 15
Augustine Rubit 4 Assists Coty Clarke 2
Augustine Rubit 10 Rebounds Coty Clarke 8
Augustine Rubit 3 Free Throws Made Fred Gulley 3
Antoine Allen 3 Steals Michael Qualls 3
Antoine Allen 1 Blocks Alandise Harris 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
South Alabama 60 35.1 9-25 11-19 9 38 3 5 20
Arkansas 72 48.1 5-17 17-25 11 33 8 10 14