Fortson Impressive In Debut

FAYETTEVILLE — Twenty minutes into his Arkansas career, freshman point guard Courtney Fortson was pretty sure his Razorbacks debut was going well.

But he didn’t realize how many assists he had dished out in the first 20 minutes.

“To tell you the truth, I thought I had like four or five,” Fortson said after Arkansas’ 108-80 victory over Dillard on Thursday night in Bud Walton Arena.

In fact, Fortson had nine of his game-high 10 assists in the first half of his first game as a Razorback.

He finished with 11 points and committed only two turnovers, doing all the things Arkansas coach John Pelphrey and the Razorbacks said he would.

“He’s kind of like a Steve Nash type point guard with his assist numbers,” said freshman guard Rotnei Clarke, who benefited from Fortson’s presence and made five 3-pointers Thursday night. “He’s capable of doing that every game. He’s an unbelievable point guard.

“It’s like he has eyes in the back of his head.”



Henry Keeps Scoring

Freshman guard Jason Henry continues to make the most of his minutes. Henry had 10 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes in Monday’s exhibition win over Campbellsville.

And the 6-foot-6 native of West Memphis made an immediate impact on Thursday night. Henry tallied 10 points in only six first-half minutes and went on to finish with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes.

Displaying immense athleticism and versatility throughout the contest, Henry even played a few minutes of point guard late in both halves.

“Jason’s a tremendous talent,” Pelphrey said. “Jason’s got to really focus on his discipline in terms of commitment to defense, attitude and off the floor stuff.

“If he gets zeroed in on that, there’s no limit to what he could accomplish.”



Sanchez Fouls More

Freshman forward Michael Sanchez again found himself in early foul trouble Thursday night. He picked up two fouls in the first 76 seconds of Arkansas’ exhibition opener on Monday night.

Sanchez was whistled for three fouls before halftime against the Blue Devils. Junior forward Michael Washington also fouled three times in the first half.

“We obviously need Michael to play defense without fouling,” Pelphrey said. “Mike Washington has had a tendency to foul too much, too. This year, it’s going to be hard if we foul like that. It could change our game plan.”

Sanchez also showed the willingness to throw his body around. With 13 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first half, Sanchez left the game with blood gushing from just above his right eye. Later in the half, we dove to the floor, wrestled the ball away from two Dillard players and called timeout.



Tip-Ins

• Junior forward Montrell McDonald thrilled the crowd with two powerful dunks — a two-handed slam in the first half and a soaring left-handed jam in the second.

• Junior guard Stefan Welsh struggled with his shooting, making only two of his eight shots for five points, but contributed with five assists and only one turnover.

• Freshman forward Andre Clark finished with 12 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes.