Khalif Battle: 'If I've got a red light, I'm still gonna make it green'

It was a good thing for Arkansas that Khalif Battle didn’t stop shooting Saturday. The Razorbacks guard shattered his previous career high to pour in 42 points in an 88-73 win against Missouri, including a rare four-point play in the second half.

Battle finished 11-of-15 (73.3%) shooting, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range and a perfect 14-of-14 on his free throws. Speaking after the game, the graduate senior exuded the confidence you’d expect from someone coming off the game he had.

“I think coach even said earlier this year, he said if I’ve got a red light I’m still gonna make it green,” Battle said. “The president of the United States could tell me to stop shooting the ball but I’m still gonna shoot the ball. That’s just who I am. That’s just what I do. My grandma always says, ‘when you know who you are, you know what you do.’ So I know who I am and I know what I do. I’m a scorer.”

Battle missed his first two shots of the game but didn’t let that deter him from continuing to fire away. He nailed his first 3-pointer four minutes into the game but still had only five points by the 10-minute mark. However, he went on a tear to end the first half, scoring 11 points over the final eight minutes to end the half with 16.

Battle picked up right where he left off in the second half to help Arkansas pull away. His 3-pointer with 6:58 remaining allowed the Razorbacks to claim their first double-digit lead of the game.

A transfer from Temple, Battle has only recently claimed a place in the starting lineup after coming off the bench to start the season. He’s now scored in double figures in five of the seven starts he’s made this season, including each of the past three contests.

Battle ranks second among all Razorbacks with 10.6 points per game while shooting 35.2% from long range. With Saturday’s result, he’s now had six games this season in which he’s scored 20 points or more. However, this is the first time he’s done so since the beginning of December.

If Battle is able to carry this momentum into the next few games, it could lead to big results for Arkansas. The Razorbacks improved to 14-13 (5-9 SEC) with the victory and have four more games remaining before the start of the SEC Tournament.

These next couple of weeks will be critical for seeding in the conference tournament, beginning with a matchup against Vanderbilt at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday.