NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Sam Houston State Bearkats saw their five-game win streak come to an end on Thursday night as the Arkansas Razorbacks used a strong second half to take a 90-56 win at Verizon Arena.

The Bearkats (9-4), playing in their final non-conference game of the season, trailed by just 12 at the half but shot just 25 percent in the second period and finished 3-for-23 from beyond the three-point arc.  

Dakarai Henderson finished with a team-best 13 points and Paul Baxter finished with eight, but none of the other eight Bearkats who found the scoring column finished with more than six.  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearkats were hampered by a cold-shooting opening half and trailed by a dozen midway through the game. Eight Kats found the scoring column and Sam outscored Arkansas 20-12 in the paint, but made their way to the foul line just three times and were just 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.

Arkansas early with an 11-4 run that ended in an Anton Beard triple to get them up 18-10 before Paul Baxter ended that with a steal and breakaway two-handed dunk with just under 13 minutes to play in the period. But the Hogs started making their way to the foul line, which they did 20 times in the first half, and got the lead up to double digits less than three minutes later.

But that lead would never grow past 12 and the Bearkat defense held the Razorbacks to just 2-for-8 from the field to close out the half; however, Arkansas scored seven of the first nine points of the second half and went on a 17-6 run in just over four minutes to open things up to a 25-point lead just over five minutes into the period.

Henderson and John Dewey each found baskets early in the half, but Sam went without a made field goal for a stretch of nearly seven minutes midway through the period before Jamal Williams ended it with a jumper at the 9:30 mark. But Arkansas took advantage of situation, outscoring Sam Houston 18-6 and upping the lead to 29 with just over 10 minutes to play.

KEY STATS
Sam Houston entered the game hitting better than 33 percent from the three-point line, but hit just 3-for-23 from three with two triples coming in the game's final five minutes. The Razorbacks canned seven treys of their own, but went to the foul line 40 times, converting on 27 while the Kats were just 7-for-13 from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
The Bearkats will take a week off for the Christmas break before opening up Southland Conference play with games against Houston Baptist and Central Arkansas, starting Dec. 29 when the Huskies come to Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum for the league opener.