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The lid came off the rim after halftime for the 25th-ranked Arkansas men’s basketball team Saturday. 

The Razorbacks shot well after halftime to run away from Fresno State and win 82-58 at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. 

Arkansas (7-2) opened the second half on a 22-6 run to take a 56-30 lead on Darius Acuff’s 3-pointer with 15:25 remaining. The Razorbacks made 8 of their first 10 shot attempts after halftime, including 5 of 7 attempts from 3-point range. 

The run began with back-to-back 3s from Karter Knox and a long corner 2 by D.J. Wagner to force a Fresno State timeout with 18:19 to play. That did not slow down Arkansas, which continued the onslaught with a banked in 3 by Knox and a pair of perimeter makes from Acuff before the first media timeout of the second half. 

Arkansas was 17 for 38 (44.7%) from the floor in the second half, including 8 for 18 (44.4%) from 3-point range.  

It was a stark contrast from the first 20 minutes when both teams looked sluggish offensively, especially early. Fresno State (6-4) did not make its first field goal until Zaon Collins’ layup at the 15:11 mark of the first half, but only trailed 5-0 at at the time. 

Billy Richmond had a fast-break dunk, Malique Ewin had a second-chance tip in and Meleek Thomas hit a 3-pointer in short order out of the first media timeout to put the Razorbacks ahead 12-2, but Arkansas had trouble increasing the lead. 

Wagner’s corner 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the half gave the Razorbacks their biggest advantage of the half at 34-21. DJ Stickman answered with a 3-pointer over the top of Acuff as time expired to pull the Bulldogs within 34-24 at halftime. 

Arkansas shot 13 for 28 overall and 3 for 12 from 3-point range in the first half, while Fresno State shot 9 for 30 and 2 for 12, respectively. 

Acuff spearheaded the surge in the second half with 11 of his team-high 18 points — all before the second media timeout of the half. The freshman point guard also had 8 assists and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes. 

Thomas and Wagner each added 12 points and Knox scored 11 for the Razorbacks. Ewin had 9 points and 5 rebounds in limited action due to foul trouble, and freshman Isaiah Sealy scored 8 points after he came into the game late in the second half. 

Arkansas led 70-40 on Thomas’ 3-pointer with 9:19 to play, but the team deflated for a while after Richmond was ejected moments later for a Flagrant 2 foul after he elbowed Bastien Rieber in the head before an out-of-bounds play. The Bulldogs answered the foul with a 16-4 run that cut the lead to 74-56 with 3:02 to play. 

The Richmond foul was the second altercation of the game. Forwards Trevon Brazile of Arkansas and Jac Mani of Fresno State were assessed offsetting technical fouls early in the first half when they got locked up underneath the basket and Brazile shoved Mani. 

Wilson Jacques led the Bulldogs with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Mani had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Fresno State shot 22 for 63 (34.9%) overall and 4 for 26 (15.4%) from 3-point range. 

Arkansas shot 30 for 66 (45.5%) overall and 11 for 30 (36.7%) from 3. The Razorbacks forced 17 turnovers that were converted into 16 points and outscored the Bulldogs 26-11 in transition. 

Player of the Game: Arkansas G Darius Acuff

Acuff affected the game in several areas with 18 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal in 33 minutes. The Razorbacks outscored the Bulldogs by 25 points when Acuff was on the floor. 

He shot 7 for 12 overall and 3 for 6 from 3-point range. He hit a pair of 3-pointers during the Razorbacks’ big run to open the second half and scored 11 points after halftime, all in the first 8-plus minutes. 

Acuff has a strong case for a player of the week or freshman of the week award from the SEC. His performance against Fresno State followed a game against sixth-ranked Louisville when he had 17 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds.

In NLR

Arkansas won its fourth consecutive game and improved its all-time record to 16-10 at Simmons Bank Arena, where it has played annually most seasons since 1999-2000.

The quality of competition in North Little Rock has fallen off in recent years. The Razorbacks’ early opponents at the arena included Illinois coached by Bill Self, Texas Tech by Bob Knight, Oklahoma State by Eddie Sutton and Baylor by Scott Drew. 

Houston defeated the Razorbacks in North Little Rock during the 2011-12 season and Arkansas has scheduled only mid-major opponents since in the city. 

The Razorbacks defeated Fresno State by an almost identical score as last season’s game at Simmons Bank Arena, an 82-57 victory over Central Arkansas. 

Series History

Arkansas improved to 3-0 against Fresno State. 

The Razorbacks scored a 70-69 upset over the 12th-ranked Bulldogs, coached by Jerry Tarkanian, in Phoenix on Nov. 29, 1997, in the first meeting between the programs. 

Arkansas also won 83-75 on Nov. 17, 2017, in Fayetteville. 

Up Next

Arkansas is scheduled to play again next Saturday at 11 a.m. against No. 19 Texas Tech at American Airlines Center in Dallas. 

The Red Raiders (6-2) will be playing their second consecutive game in North Texas. They are scheduled to play LSU at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Sunday at 2 p.m. 

Box Score