Arkansas opened the Mike Anderson era with an easy 83-63 win over visiting South Carolina Upstate.

Anderson, who was a key assistant on Nolan Richardson’s Razorbacks’ staff for years, returned to Fayetteville in the offseason after being lured away from his head coaching position at Missouri.

His uptempo, pressing defense was on full display and helped the Razorbacks build an early lead and maintain a double-digit advantage for much of the night.
Marshawn Powell led all scorers with 19 points. He was joined in double figures by Rickey Scott, who added 11 in the Razorbacks' season-opener.

USC Upstate had no answer for the Razorbacks, who came out hot in front of an energetic crowd of 10,500. Last year's season opener only drew 6,404.

Fred Miller, who hit three 3-pointers, led the Spartans with 13 points. Torrey Craig, last year's Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year, picked up four fouls in the first half and finished with four points.