Maker gives Arkansas basketball a plus-51 jolt in rout of UAPB

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Maper Maker took one shot Tuesday night.

He still had more to do with how the game went than anybody else in the building.

The Razorbacks beat UAPB 106-61 at Bud Walton Arena to start the season. Maker, who measures 7-0, finished with a team-best plus-51. Nobody else on the roster came close.

John Calipari’s been at this a long time. Turns out he’d never seen that one either.

“In all my years of coaching, I’ve never seen a 51 plus minus,” Calipari said postgame. “How about he took one shot while he got fouled, made four free throws. One shot, he goes to 51. He just mixes up the game.”

Anyone scanning stat lines Wednesday morning probably kept scrolling past his.

He scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds. Three of those boards came off Arkansas misses, and he tacked on two blocks and an assist.

Doing his work on defense

Maker earned his keep at the other end, where his reach gave UAPB fits.

Every guard who drove had to decide whether to go at him near the rim. That’s not a fun choice to make on the fly.

He also got a hand near plenty of shots he never got credit for.

Cooper Bowser, who’s been around the block in the Hogs’ frontcourt, saw it all from a few feet away.

“He was the biggest impact tonight,” Bowser said after the game. “He was plus 51, which is crazy, especially just on the defensive end. I say he’s just everywhere. He covers up people’s mistakes. He’s always always in the right spots in the right positions, and he plays extremely hard.”

Maker spent most of his night at the four spot. Every so often he slid down to play center.

Bowser liked what that opens up for the defense.

“It was great to have that versatility,” Bowser said. “I mean, he can guard one through five, so he’s out there able to switch. We can switch. We can switch one through five when he’s out there, and we can do a lot of a lot of different things when he’s out there.”

A May commitment that slipped by

When Maker picked Arkansas on May 24, the news barely made a ripple.

He came from AUNZ Prep in Australia without a national ranking. Memphis made a run at him and Syracuse kicked the tires, but he landed with the Hogs.

Most of the other newcomers arrived with big recruiting rankings attached. The 215-pound Perth native showed up with none.

Summer workouts started changing that. Folks around the program kept mentioning him whenever talk turned to who looked good.

The Bahamas trip didn’t give him much floor time. When he got in, he looked like he belonged.

He kept stacking good minutes over two exhibitions. Tuesday he took it further.

Coach Cal’s rotation puzzle

Now Calipari has to sort out minutes. His half-joking fix is to have the NCAA let him play seven guys at once.

Good luck with that one, Coach.

“Should Maper play more? Yeah, he got a 51, so he should play more,” Calipari said. “But if he plays more someone’s got to play less. Just how it is. If Maper plays, someone got to play less. If Abdou steps up and does some of the stuff he did in the second half, someone else got to play a little bit less.”

Calipari said Maker’s teammates don’t mind sharing the floor with him since he isn’t out there hunting shots.

“He’s done it just about every game. How about if you’re on this court? How much is he commanding the ball to get shots? Do you want him on the court when you’re on the court? Oh yeah, ‘More shots for me. I want him out there, coach. Put in Maper,’” Calipari said.

Sunday brings a much bigger name. Arkansas meets No. 9 Virginia on a neutral floor at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Tipoff is at noon CT, and ESPN has the broadcast.