FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas coach John Pelphrey had to admit Monday's 70-51 win against Missouri State was his team's best effort so far this season. What made the performance even more impressive was the fact the Razorbacks pulled off the 19-point victory without much help from Patrick Beverley.

Not that Beverley didn't contribute at all, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out three assists and picking up three steals in the win. But when it came to scoring, Beverley was a near no-show for the Hogs on Monday.

As Arkansas pulled away from the Bears, building a 53-40 lead with 12 minutes, 21 seconds left to play, the sophomore guard who leads the Razorbacks in scoring wasn't scoring at all. In fact, up to that point in the game Beverley had been held to just two points.

He finished with six, just one off a career-low set twice as a freshman a year ago.

But while Beverley wasn't at his best from the floor -- hitting just two of nine attempts -- Arkansas' ability to overcome his off night said a lot about the Razorbacks.

"(Patrick) is a very key player to this basketball team," senior Gary Ervin said. "He's a great shooter, he's a very tough-nosed guy that gets after it on defense. And when one of your leaders is down like that, it's just a call for the guys to step up off the bench or for the other starting five to step up and chip away at it and I thought we did a great job at it (tonight)."

Ready For A Rest

Arkansas now takes an eight-day layoff to concentrate on final exams before returning to action Dec. 12 against Texas-San Antonio. And after playing four games in the past 10 days, the Razorbacks feel like the rest is coming at just the right time.

"We're a little bit worn down," senior center Steven Hill said. "Four games in 10 days, so we definitely look forward to a couple of days off.

"As a player, you would like to keep playing. But the rest will do us good."

This and That

Arkansas senior Sonny Weems returned from a one-game suspension and started Monday's game. Weems finished with seven points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes of play... The Razorbacks got 36 for their 70 points from bench players in the win Monday... The announced crowd of 11,956 in Bud s Arena was the season-low for a home game this year... The Razorbacks have started a season 7-1 for the second year in a row... With Monday's win, Arkansas now leads the all-time series with Missouri State, 17-5.