Trevon Brazille scored 26 points with 10 rebounds to lift No. 17 Arkansas to a 93-86 victory over No. 16 Texas Tech on Saturday at Dallas to avenge a loss in the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Darius Acuff Jr. and Karter Knox each scored 20 points as the Razorbacks (8-2) took control with a 50-point second half. Brazille scored 18 points with eight rebounds in the second half and blocked a point-blank layup with 45 seconds remaining.
Acuff added eight assists for Arkansas, which also had a victory over No. 6 Louisville on Dec. 3 to begin a three-game winning streak.
JT Toppin scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Texas Tech (7-3), which fell to 0-3 against ranked opponents this season. Christian Anderson scored 26 points with 11 assists for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech earned an 85-83 overtime victory over Arkansas in last year’s NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinal.
Arkansas outlasted Texas Tech by shooting 51.5% from the flror in the second half as well as 5 of 8 (62.5%) from 3-point range. The Razorbacks also had a 25-16 rebounding edge in after halftime and a 40-33 advantage on the boards in the game.
After trailing the entire first half and most of the second half, the Razorbacks grabbed a 72-70 lead with 7:42 left in the game following a 9-2 run. Brazille buried a pair of 3-pointers and Acuff added a fast-break layup off of a Billy Richmond steal.
Anderson put Texas Tech back in front 75-74 with 6:17 remaining in a span when the teams swapped the lead four times in just over a minute of play. The last came when Brazille dropped in a hook shot with 5:20 left for a 79-78 edge. Arkansas never trailed again.
The basket was the start of Brazille’s 10 points down the stretch that he punctuated with a follow-up slam-dunk that gave Arkansas an 87-82 lead with 2:27 on the clock.
The Red Raiders shot 50.7% from the floor and went 13 of 31 (41.9%) from 3-point range. But after taking a 78-77 lead, Texas Tech sputtered down the stretch by missing seven of 10 shots from the floor.
–Field Level Media
