Darius Acuff Jr. scored 18 points and added a season-high 13 assists, Meleek Thomas contributed five 3-pointers and 21 points off the bench, and No. 17 Arkansas blew out South Carolina 108-74 on Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Malique Ewin added 18 points for the Razorbacks (13-4, 3-1 Southeastern Conference), who had six players score in double figures. Arkansas bounced back decisively from its worst loss of the season, 95-73 at Auburn on Saturday.
Meechie Johnson scored 17 of his 29 points in the first half and added six assists for the Gamecocks (10-7, 1-3), who have lost three of their past four games.
Nick Pringle scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds for the Razorbacks against his former team. Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile had 13 points and D.J. Wagner logged 12.
Acuff, named the SEC freshman of the week for the fifth straight week on Monday, recorded his third double-double.
The Razorbacks shot 58.9% from the field overall. They hit at a 69.7% clip while outscoring the Gamecocks 58-36 in the second half.
Arkansas led by 43 on Pringle’s dunk with 2:31 remaining.
The Razorbacks had their fifth 100-point game of the season and threatened their season high of 115 set Nov. 21 against Jackson State. The entered averaging 89.4 points a game, 15th in Division I.
South Carolina committed a season-high 16 turnovers, helping Arkansas to 32 fastbreak points. Arkansas averaged 20.4 fastbreak points coming in, third in Division I.
The Razorbacks also dominated the inside, outscoring the Gamecocks 66-36 in the paint.
Arkansas took control early in the first half, consistently beating South Carolina down the floor. Karter Knox and Ewin dunked and Ewin added a fastbreak layup during a 14-5 run for a 22-12 lead.
The Razorbacks went on a later 12-2 spurt fueled by four points from Ewin, a 3-pointer by Thomas and a three-point play by Billy Richmond III to pull ahead 44-28. The gap was 50-38 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
