03/13/26 11:37:00
Printable Page
03/13 23:36 CDT Acuff Jr. scores 37 as No. 17 Arkansas holds off Oklahoma to
reach SEC Tournament semis
Acuff Jr. scores 37 as No. 17 Arkansas holds off Oklahoma to reach SEC
Tournament semis
By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) --- Darius Acuff Jr. scored 37 points and No. 17 Arkansas
held off Oklahoma 82-79 on Friday night to reach the Southeastern Conference
Tournament semifinals.
The third-seeded Razorbacks (24-8) won their third straight overall and will
play No. 15 seed Mississippi in the semifinals after the Rebels upset No. 15
Alabama 80-79 earlier Friday night.
Trevon Brazile added 12 points for Arkansas. Meleek Thomas, who came in
averaging 15.4 points, was 2-of-10 shooting and finished with eight points.
The Razorbacks were the last team to play at this tournament, while this was
Oklahoma's third game in as many nights. The game featured 16 lead changes and
11 ties, and Acuff, the SEC's scoring leader and league's player and freshman
of the year, had 21 in the first half to keep Arkansas within 39-37 at halftime.
Neither team led by more than four much of the second half, and Dayton
Forsythe's layup tied it for the last time at 67 with 5:38 left. Malique Ewin's
dunk put Arkansas ahead to stay with 5:17 left. The Razorbacks scored nine of
the next 11, and Acuff's 3 with 2:27 remaining gave them their biggest lead at
76-69.
The Sooners had a final chance after Acuff missed a second free throw with 10
seconds left. Nijel Pack's 3 missed and Arkansas got the ball with 0.6 seconds
remaining.
No. 11 seed Oklahoma (19-15) needed an upset in this game to strengthen its
NCAA Tournament resume after losing nine straight early in league play. The
Sooners' six-game winning streak was snapped.
Pack led the Sooners with 19 points, Derrion Reid and Tae Davis each had 17 and
Mohamed Wague had 13.
Up next
Oklahoma now must wait and hope winning eight of 10 before this loss was enough
for a 35th all-time NCAA berth.
Arkansas reached its 17th semifinal in this tournament.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up
here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball:
https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and
https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
|
