Meleek Thomas set career highs with 28 points and six 3-pointers, Darius Acuff Jr. had 17 points and six assists, and the No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks beat James Madison 103-74 in their final nonconference game Monday in Fayetteville, Ark.
D.J. Wagner had 14 points and four threes and Malique Ewin had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Razorbacks (10-3), who were 8-0 at home in nonconference play.
Bradley Douglas had 19 points and Justin McBride had 13 points for the Dukes (7-7), who have lost three in a row. They were picked to win the Sun Belt Conference in the preseason coaches’ poll but are 0-2.
The Razorbacks shot 54.8 percent from the field and made a season-high 15 of 28 threes while reaching 100 points for the fourth time this season.
Acuff, the three-time defending SEC Freshman of the Week, made three treys and had one turnover in 30 minutes.
Trevon Brazile had eight points and seven rebounds and Billy Richmond had eight points and six assists for Arkansas, whose only losses have come to ranked teams Houston, Duke and Michigan State.
James Madison had won two of its last three games against ranked opponents, the most recent a 74-61 victory over Wisconsin in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament, but this was out of reach early.
Reserves Thomas and Ewin keyed a 25-5 run early in the first half, when the Razorbacks opened a 30-12 lead with 8:07 left. Thomas had 16 points on four threes and four free throws and Ewin had a pair of dunks and a free throw in that run.
Thomas had 18 points and three 3-pointers while going 6 for 27 from the field in his previous three games.
The Razorbacks led 48-28 at half, and James Madison was never closer than 15 the rest of the way in the first meeting between the two.
Two 3-pointers by Thomas and Wagner and a pair of dunks by Brazile highlighted a 21-5 run as the Razorbacks opened a 93-61 lead.
–Field Level Media
