FAYETTEVILLE — For a while Wednesday night, it looked as if Rickey Scott might have a subpar encore to his career night in Arkansas’ last outing.
Then the Razorbacks sophomore guard turned it on again.
Scott scored a career-high 23 points, including 14 straight during one stretch, as Arkansas beat Charlotte 80-67. The Razorbacks remained perfect at Bud Walton Arena this season with the win.
“It just felt good coming off my wrist,” Scott said. “Once I get that feeling, I feel like every shot is going to go in. I just got that feeling.”
Scott scored a then-career best 18 points in a win over Louisiana Tech last Thursday, a step up from his performances to that point. Through the first 10 contests this season, the Irving, Texas native was averaging 8.6 points and struggled to find consistency with his perimeter and free throw shooting.
“All the coaches have told me to stay aggressive and that’s what I think I was lacking before,” Scott said. “I’m trying to keep my mind on defense and rebounds, and just positive thoughts. What was messing me up was thinking negative and I don’t need to to do that.”
He continued by scoring his team’s first eight points in the second half. Scott’s lay-up gave Arkansas its largest lead at 48-27 with 17:56 remaining and Charlotte never got the lead to within single-digits the rest of the way.
“He’s letting the game come to him,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “Everyone looks at the scoring, but what I like is the rebounding and defensive intensity he Julysses (Nobles) and Mardracus (Wade) are bringing. They are showing the young guys how easy the pressure can bring offense to you.
“Tonight we had four times with super runs. To me, that’s Razorback basketball.”
Despite struggling to find his rhythm early, Scott helped the Razorbacks (9-3) open up a lead they never relinquished. His first basket sparked a 20-2 first half run to build a 16-point Arkansas lead.
Mardracus Wade hit three 3-pointers during the stretch, and Arkansas mixed a variety of transition lay-ups with second-chance baskets and free throws.
“I thought they won the battle of the little things,” Charlotte coach Alan Major said. “There were some hustle plays and little plays. They did a good job on the offensive glass with 19 second-chance points.”
Wade, a sophomore, hit four more shots from 3-point range in the win and finished with 14 points to compliment his classmate’s career effort. For the season, Wade is hitting 48.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
“He’s really been shooting the ball well in practice and carrying it over into games,” Anderson said. “Our guys did a good job of finding him in transition and ball reversal.”
Arkansas hit 46.4 percent of its field goal attempts and 22 of 31 free throws, but Anderson was most impressed with the Razorbacks’ defense.
Charlotte (7-4) hit only 27.8 percent of its shots, including 5 of 24 attempts from 3-point range. Arkansas also forced the 49ers into 17 turnovers.
“I thought our defense was the biggest difference,” Anderson said. “We rebounded the basketball and made them take tough shots. They’re a 3-point shooting team and we did a good job of limiting them and getting the rebounds, and getting out in transition to give us some opportunities to score.”
KJ Sherrill, Javarris Barnett, Derrio Green and DeMario Mayfield all scored 11 points to lead the 49ers, while Mayfield also added a game-high 10 rebounds.