BJ Young set a career high with 28 points in Arkansas' 75-62 loss at Connecticut last Saturday, but he didn't miss a beat when asked what the performance felt like.
''Bad, because we lost,'' Young said.
Despite the frustration over the defeat, Young has little else to be rankled about in his first season of college basketball. The 6-foot-3 guard, one of four heralded freshmen recruited by first-year Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson, has quickly emerged as Arkansas' top offensive option following the season-ending knee injury to Marshawn Powell.
And he's done so without having started a game yet.
Young leads Arkansas' current group of healthy players with an average of 15.4 points. He's also picked up the slack following Powell's injury, scoring 17.7 points per game in his last six outings.
All in all, Young has so far lived up to everything that was expected of him as one of the nation's top recruits. And his performance couldn't have come at a better time for the youthful Razorbacks, who have only nine scholarship players and travel to face Oklahoma on Saturday.
Anderson, however, knows Young can't win games alone in the Southeastern Conference.
''The Connecticut game, although it was a loss, was a career game for him,'' Anderson said. ''But we need other guys to really step their game up if we're going to be a team that's going to be able to beat people.''
Young, a St. Louis native, originally signed with Arkansas under former coach John Pelphrey. After Pelphrey's firing in March, Young elected to remain committed to the Razorbacks after they hired Anderson.
The early returns from that commitment have been substantial for Young. His 15.4 points per game have come in an average of 22.7 minutes off the bench, and he's shooting 50 percent overall (40 of 80) and from 3-point range (13 of 26).
He's also averaging 4.1 rebounds and is showing improvement on both team and individual defense as the season progresses.
''Most freshmen, they're used to being the guy who does it all,'' Anderson said. ''At this level here, you don't have to do it all.''
Against the Huskies, Young's 28 points came in 27 minutes. He was 10 of 20 from the field, 5 of 6 from 3-point range and helped keep the Razorbacks close against the defending national champions.
''When he's having an on night, you've got to keep feeding the guy that's hot,'' Arkansas point guard Julysses Nobles said. ''BJ was hot that night, and we kept feeding him. He picked up the scoring. It's always good to have a freshman that you can depend on.''
As Young continues to string together strong performances, he also expects to face more defenses focused on stopping his penetration. He has no doubt he's ready.
''I haven't really seen too much yet because they probably don't know too much about me yet,'' Young said. ''I will probably start seeing a lot more different defenses, a lot more on-ball pressure on me or something like that.
''But I'm just adjusting to it the best way I can.''
Anderson, who considers Young a starter, is anxious to see how that adjustment plays out, and he's counting on the rest of the team to support Young.
''We'll find that out, because he's playing with a lot of confidence and that's what you want,'' Anderson said. ''But hopefully we've got enough other guys that people can't just zero in on BJ.
''We have some other options, and so hopefully those other options are clicking like he was clicking the other night.''
