FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ season opener against Southeastern Louisiana promised plenty of intrigue because of the all the new faces.

But in the end, one of Arkansas’ four returning players made the biggest impact in the 91-87 overtime win.

Forward Michael Washington scored a career-high 30 points, grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and helped Arkansas avoid an embarrassing loss Friday night. The junior played 41 of the possible 45 minutes and did it all despite the fact he was cramping late in the game.

“My gosh, we broke him down in terms of minutes,” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. “But I can’t say enough about that performance. That was unbelievable.”

Washington averaged 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds a game in a reserve role last season, but Arkansas is relying on him to produce much more because of its youth and depth problems in the frontcourt.

So far, he has fit the bill. Washington averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two exhibition games, but picked up his play against Southeastern Louisiana. Especially in overtime when he scored seven straight to help Arkansas take the lead and hold on.

Washington started the decisive stretch by making two free throws to give the Hogs an 82-81 lead. It was Arkansas first lead since holding a 31-30 edge with 4:41 left in the first half.

After making another free throw, Washington energized the Razorbacks with a two-handed dunk with one second left on the shot clock. He made two more free throws on Arkansas’ next possession it 87-81 with 26 seconds left.

“That doesn’t surprise me. That’s Mike Washington,” junior Montrell McDonald said of Washington’s night. “He is a hard-going guy every day in practice so 30 and 14, that doesn’t surprise me. Those are numbers that he’s capable of getting. We wish we could take some pressure off of him, but those are numbers he’s capable of getting.”

It could’ve been even more if not for his free-throw problems Friday. Washington made just 9 of 16 from the foul line Friday, which included a 3-for-8 performance in the first half. However, Washington made five of his final six attempts in the overtime period.

Washington, who was grimacing on the free-throw line during his final attempts, couldn’t attend the postgame news conference because he was cramping up.

But freshman guard Rotnei Clarke was one of several Razorbacks who spoke for Washington after the game. And they were impressed by their big man’s play.

“He deserves that because of how hard he works in practice,” Clarke said. “He shows a lot of passion, shows a lot of leadership in practice. He’s one of the hardest workers. He’s drawing charges and doing everything he can to be a great player.”