FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. _ For a half on Wednesday night, the University of Central Arkansas Bears played at Top 10 team in the nation on even terms. But the No. 9/10 Arkansas Razorbacks turned up the intensity in the second half and pulled away from the Bears in a 97-60 victory at Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks (7-0) outscored the Bears 29-11 to start the second half, shooting nearly 70 percent from the field in the opening 10 minutes of the period. The second-half differential ended up 56-25 for the home team. Arkansas shot 56.8 percent from the field in the second half and held UCA to just 33.3 percent. The Razorbacks also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Bears 47-31, including 13 from 6-foot-10 center Jaylin Williams.

"I'm not sure if they did anything any different in the second half,' said UCA head coach Anthony Boone, who also faced the Razorbacks during his playing days at Ole MIss. "They did re-focus their defense. I think we just came out, like we've done in a lot of games, with a different mindset than we had in the opening half. And I've stressed that with the guys, we've talked about that a bunch. Hopefully we'll find a solution for that.'

The Bears hung around in the first half thanks to perimeter shooting. UCA was 7 of 10 from beyond the three-point line in the opening 20 minutes, helping to offset a free-throw differential of 5 to 1. Arkansas shot 20 free throws and made just eight, while UCA was 2 of 4 at the line.

UCA sophomore guard Collin Cooper, playing in his hometown, had 11 points at the break, knocking down 3 of 4 from three-point range. He finished as UCA's scoring leader with 13 points before fouling out with eight minutes remaining. Cooper missed last year's matchup when the teams met for the first time in 73 years after Arkansas relaxed its rule against playing in-state schools. 

"Collin was maybe a little too excited, which is doesn't take much for him to get too excited,' said Boone. "He seems to get that way just waking up and getting out of bed. But he was excited about this game and I'm really glad he came out and played, and played well. That was good for him.'

UCA true freshman point guard Camren Hunter from Bryant, Ark., playing just his eighth collegiate game, added 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.

"Cam was impressive,' said Boone of another homegrown player. "In a game that's really physical, when they were pressuring a lot _ he had a few more turnovers than we'd like _ but once he got over the initial nervousness of being here, which it's a big deal. I understand. I grew up in Arkansas watching the Razorbacks and I remember the first time I played against them, I was nervous, too. But once he got through that he was really solid.

"He was just as physical as those guys and he had a great presence on the floor for us.'

Darious Hall of Little Rock played against the team he began his career with and had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Hall played for Arkansas as a freshman before transferring to DePaul for two seasons, then to UCA this year.

The Razorbacks, undefeated at home this season and 16-1 a year ago when they advanced ot the NCAA Elite 8, quickly expanded their six-point halftime lead to 17 points in the opening three minutes of the second half. UCA never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Arkansas had four players in double figures, led by South Dakota transfer Stanley Umude with 17 points. Fellow transfer Au'Diese Toney from Pittsburgh and sophomore Davonte Davis added 16 points each and JD Notae, who came off the bench for the first time this season, scored 10.

UCA held Arkansas to just 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) from three-point range. The Razorbacks also finished just 13 of 26 (50 percent) from the free-throw line. The Bears turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 29 points for the Razorbacks.

UCA continues its three-game in-state swing on Saturday, facing the Arkansas State Red Wolves in Jonesboro, Ark. The Bears then host Little Rock on Dec. 14 at the Farris Center.