Arkansas 78, Sam Houston State 67

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP)—Jonathon Modica scored 19 points Wednesday night as Arkansas held off Sam Houston State 78-67.

Arkansas (3-4) built a 42-27 lead at the half, but the Bearkats (2-3) narrowed the margin in the second period, outscoring the Razorbacks 40-36.

Robert Shannon scored 31 for Sam Houston, making 10 of 14 field goal attempts, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range. In the second half, Shannon made six consecutive 3s, and after the fifth Arkansas’ lead narrowed to 66-48.

The Razorbacks had four players in double figures. Kendrick Davis scored 13, and Dionisio Gomez and Eric Ferguson each scored 11. Alonzo Lane came off the bench to pull down a game-high 10 rebounds in 21 minutes.

The Razorbacks outrebounded Sam Houston 46-31 and forced 24 turnovers, though Arkansas coughed up the ball 19 times. Ferguson had four steals.

Modica did almost all of his damage in the first half, finishing the period 8 of 10 from the field for 17 points.

Sam Houston’s Felton Freeman came into the game shooting 14 of 19 from 3-point range, but the Arkansas defense held him to eight points, including two 3-pointers.

Shannon landed his sixth 3-pointer in a row with just more than seven minutes on the clock to make the score 70-53, but missed two 3s shortly after.

Arkansas kept a comfortable lead through much of the game but slipped as second period wore on, allowing 3-pointers by Shannon and Eddy Barlow to get by, making the score 78-66 with one minute left.

Arkansas shot 44.6 percent for the game to 43.6 percent for Sam Houston. The Bearkats outshot Arkansas from long range, making 10 of 24 3-pointers, to 5 of 18 for Arkansas. From the free throw line, Sam Houston made 9 of 14, to 15 of 28 for the Razorbacks. Davis made 7 of 8 attempts.