Hogs looked more like practice than an actual game in The Bahamas

The scoreboard said 106-59.

But if you watched Arkansas basketball run through the Bahamas national team on Friday, it felt like a scrimmage that someone forgot to end.

There was never a point where the outcome felt in question, and the Razorbacks treated the whole night like an extended rehearsal rather much of a real contest.

Head coach John Calipari watched the opener of the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League mostly as a bystander, letting his staff run things while he took in how this young group handles game speed for the first time.

That setup fit the vibe of the whole night.

This wasn’t a chess match between two coaching staffs trying to out-scheme each other. It was Arkansas working through reps against a live opponent that couldn’t keep up.

Associate coach Kenny Payne ran the sideline and came away impressed with what he saw, even against a Bahamas roster that was mostly junior college and mid-major players.

“You can, right off the bat, tell we have a bunch of athletes,” Payne said. “We should be a great defensive team… we have great-character kids that are going to buy into that, and we got time to continue to grow as a team. We got a lot of talent.”

The score stopped mattering early

Once the Razorbacks jumped ahead by 51 points, keeping track of the score felt more like a formality than anything else.

Arkansas shot 49.4% from the field for the game, but the number that stood out came on defense, where the Hogs racked up 26 forced turnovers, 19 steals and 13 blocks. Bahamas shot just 36.4% for the night and never found any rhythm.

Five Razorbacks reached double figures, led by Jordan Smith Jr.’s 22 points, but the box score wasn’t really the point of the evening.

This looked like a coaching staff using a real opponent to run structured possessions and see who reacts well under pressure, not a team pushing to pad a final margin.

Forward Abdou Toure treated it that way too. He finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and he said afterward that the defensive habits on display weren’t anything new.

It’s simply what practice looks like for this group.

“In practice, we go at it,” Toure said. “In practice, I’ve got Jordan Smith Jr. guarding me, Billy guarding me, so with these guys guarding me it’s like I’m used to it. This intensity.”

Payne noticed the same carryover from Toure specifically, saying the forward doesn’t always bring that same energy to closed practices.

“There are times in practice where he’s coasting,” Payne said. “For whatever reason, body hurting, mentally tired, whatever. But to see the lights on and him excited to play with energy, it was good to see.

“He stopped me in the hall and talked to me about his rebounding and said, ‘I’m a dawg.’ So I’m happy about that. He’s a very good player with a bright future.”

Bench players got real look at live speed

Freshman big man Maper Maker barely scored, finishing with four points, but he blocked five shots, stole five passes and grabbed six rebounds.

That kind of stat line looks like a coach testing a player’s range rather than chasing a win. Payne explained that Maker has been showing skills in practice that surprised the staff.

“Typically, he’s been a stretch four or stretch five that pops and shoots, but he showed that he can rebound the ball against bigger, stronger guys,” Payne said. “He can play great post defense, set good screens, and he doesn’t even worry about the jump shots.”

The lopsided nature of the game let Arkansas run extended lineups and give nearly everyone on the roster minutes against a real opponent, something a closed practice can’t replicate.

Next up for the Hogs is Carleton University, with tipoff set for 5 p.m., streaming on FloSports.

Don’t expect the scoreboard to matter much there either.

Key takeaways

• Arkansas’s blowout win felt like a controlled scrimmage rather than a competitive game, with Calipari mostly observing.
• The Razorbacks forced 26 turnovers and held Bahamas to 36.4% shooting, numbers that read more like a practice drill than a live game.
• Bench players like Maper Maker got extended run to show skills, suggesting player development mattered more than the final score.