FAYETTEVILLE — They say records are made to be broken, and Arkansas broke two in its season-opening 127-48 victory over New Orleans inside Bud Walton Arena on Monday.

The Razorbacks scored the most points they ever scored in a game in program history and forced a record 51 turnovers, off which they scored 69 points.

The Razorbacks trailed for only 22 seconds at the start of the game but led 34-14 at the end of the first quarter and 64-28 at halftime. All 13 players who saw the floor scored, with six, led by Ayianna Johnson (23 points) getting into double figures.

"I feel like it was a a more complete game as far as playing four complete quarters," head coach Kelsi Musick said. "Obviously, having the opportunity to set some records is is always a bonus and a plus,
but I think the biggest thing is for us to stay disciplined, stay connected, and execute for four entire quarters was one thing we were really focused on, and I'm really proud of my team for being able to do that. "

Make no mistake, Monday's game wasn't played against a juggernaut of a team — New Orleans was picked to finish last in the Southland Conference — but a 79-point win and record-setting offensive and defensive performances against any opponent makes for a good night.

"We just played hard," said guard Kyiah Prestidge, who had a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. "We executed what we had to do. We were really hyped, ready to go, ready to play, and I think we just were playing for each other, and that's how the game ended up."

In her locker room speech after Arkansas' 116-55 exhibition win over Cameron, Musick talked about how the Hogs should beat teams the way they should beat them. They certainly appeared to do so on Monday.

"We focused on short-term goals, whether it was at the five-minute mark at a media [timeout], or whether it was for an entire quarter at halftime," Musick said. "I believe we had 22 turnovers forced [at half]. So, quite frankly, if you flip that, you double it. You know, you have a chance to set a potential record. So, really helping them focus on small goals each quarter and each five minutes allows us to stay focused, stay honed in, so we limit mistakes, stay disciplined, stay connected, so we're able to produce."

Arkansas will look to improve to 2-0 on Friday when it hosts Northwestern State. Tip-off is set for 10:30 a.m., with coverage on SECN+ and the Razorback Sports Network.

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