Watkins, Barford lead Red team to overtime win

Dusty Hannahs of red reacts from the bench on Sunday Oct. 23, 2016 during the Red-White game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteiville.
Dusty Hannahs of red reacts from the bench on Sunday Oct. 23, 2016 during the Red-White game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteiville.

— Manny Watkins scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help lead the Red team to a 118-113 overtime win in the annual Red-White game Sunday at Bud Walton Arena.

Junior college transfer Jaylen Barford scored 23 points and was 10 for 10 at the free throw line, including four free throws in the final 39 seconds of overtime that gave his Red team the lead and then extended it.

Fellow junior college transfer Daryl Macon hit four 3-pointer and scored a game-high 28 points for the White team. Eleven of the 12 scholarship players scored in double figures and seven scored 20 or more. Four recorded double-doubles.

The game went to overtime in exciting fashion. True freshman guard CJ Jones hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to give the White team, which trailed for the first 38-plus minutes, a 106-104 lead. But senior Manny Watkins answered with a layup at the buzzer for the Red team to send the game to overtime.

Watkins and Barford led the Red team along with junior Colorado transfer Dustin Thomas and senior Dusty Hannahs, who each scored 21 for the Red team, which shot 52 percent from the floor and led 58-43 at halftime. Thomas impressed with his well-rounded floor game and versatility, adding eight rebounds and seven assists. Hannahs knocked down five 3-pointers, flashing his unusually deep range on several occasions.

Freshman Brachen Hazen scored 17 points and hit three 3-pointers for the Red team, one of six players who made a 3-pointer and one of four who hit multiple 3s. Combined, the teams hit 18 of 40 3-pointers, a potentially encouraging sign for a team that hopes to have a more balanced shooting roster a year after having only two viable 3-point threats.

Preseason SEC Player of the Year Moses Kingsley finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds for the White team. Jones had 20 points and hit four 3-pointers. Junior Anton Beard added 16 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Junior college transfer Arlando Cook had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Arkansas will host Central Missouri on Friday at 7 p.m. in the first of two exhibition games.

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