Trevon Brazile had 25 points and 11 rebounds, heralded freshman Darius Acuff Jr. had 20 of his 22 points in the first half of his college debut and No. 14 Arkansas blew out Southern 109-77 in the season opener for both Monday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Acuff had 14 points and all three of his 3-pointers in the final 3:15 of the first half, when the Razorbacks turned a 13-point lead into 57-32 halftime advantage en route to their 52nd straight victory in a home opener. They are 33-0 in home openers at Bud Walton Arena.
Freshman wing Meleek Thomas had 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals off the bench for the Razorbacks, who began their second season under coach John Calipari after making the Sweet 16 last year.
Michael Jacobs had 22 points and Fazl Oshodi had 15 points on five 3-pointers for Southern.
Southern scored on its first possession but never led again after Brazile’s 3-pointer from the right corner started a 12-0 run. The Razorbacks had a 10-2 run later in the first 12 minutes and pulled away.
Oshodi hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut Arkansas’s lead to 35-24 with five minutes left in the first half before Acuff took over.
Acuff, rated as the No. 1 point guard recruit by 247Sports, was 8 of 13 from the field with four assists.
The Razorbacks shot 50.7% from the field and limited Southern to 39.1%. The Jaguars did most of their damage from deep, making 12 of 27 3-point tries.
Brazile was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line and Arkansas made 25 of 29.
The Razorbacks had a 45-37 rebounding advantage and committed only nine turnovers, four during garbage time.
Wing Karter Knox, one of Arkansas’s two returning starters, missed the game with a sprained toe. Reserve forward Isaiah Sealy had 12 points.
Southern head coach Kevin Johnson missed the game with an illness and assistant coach Jethro Hillman led the Jaguars.
–Field Level Media
