Meleek Thomas scored a career-high 26 points, Trevon Brazile had 14 points and eight rebounds, and the No. 21 Arkansas Razorbacks scored the final six points to stave off the hot-shooting Winthrop Eagles 84-83 on Tuesday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Nick Pringle amassed 13 points and seven rebounds and his layup with 11.9 seconds remaining capped the Razorbacks’ 6-0 run in the final 73 seconds.
Kareem Rozier tallied 23 points with a career-high seven 3-pointers, while Kody Clouet added 16 points and four threes for the Eagles (3-2), who made 15 of 31 shots from behind the arc.
Pringle made a layup with 1:13 remaining and Darius Acuff Jr. added another a fast-break layup after Brazile’s fourth blocked shot of the game to trim the deficit to 83-82 with 37 seconds remaining.
Thomas stole an interior pass on the next Winthrop possession before Pringle hit the game-winner, precipitating a long delay after Pringle and Eagles center Logan Duncomb collided.
Duncomb and Pringle went to the floor after the made field goal as Duncomb took the ball out of the basket. After a video review, officials ruled a double foul with no free throws attached.
Daylen Berry, who had 11 points and two threes for Winthrop, missed a contested 3-pointer while being defended by Thomas as time expired.
Acuff had 12 points and five assists for the Razorbacks.
Duncomb had 13 points for Big South Conference member Winthrop, which is 3-35 against SEC teams.
Rozier, a 5-9 guard, has made 17 threes in the last four games.
Rozier had 3-pointers on consecutive possessions as the Eagles took a 60-59 lead with 11:50 left.
His fifth three of the second half gave the Eagles a 79-76 lead, and Duncomb’s jumper stretched the lead to 83-78 with two minutes remaining.
Arkansas juggled its starting lineup, with Florida State transfer 6-10 Malique Ewin making his first start and Thomas coming off the bench.
Acuff’s 3-pointer late in the first half pushed the Razorbacks ahead 39-31, their largest lead of the game.
Thomas converted 10 of 20 shots from the floor and his teammates added 19 field goals in 38 attempts to finish at 50% shooting. Arkansas hit 15 of 25 from the floor in the second half, while Winthrop countered by knocking down 16 of 32, including 8 of 15 from 3-point distance.
–Field Level Media
