FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1) managed to earn a 91-72 victory over the Pacific Tigers (3-3) on Monday evening at Bud Walton Arena despite being down two scholarship players.
Offense wasn't the issue for the Razorbacks, as they shot 59.6% from the field and 42.9% from three in the contest. Junior forward Adou Thiero led the team with 23 points, six rebounds, two assists and four steals.
For just the second time in the past four seasons, Arkansas had multiple players with at least four steals in a game, as freshman Boogie Fland also added four steals to go with 20 points.
Pacific was also efficient on offense with 12 made 3-pointers, three of which came from guard Elijah Fisher, who was 8-for-10 shooting from the field with 23 points.
The Razorbacks forced 17 turnovers and scored 22 points off those, while they had 15 turnovers of their own in the contest. Arkansas out-scored the Tigers by 20 points in the paint.
Two quick transition baskets for Arkansas forced Pacific head coach Dave Smart to call for a timeout a little over a minute into the game. The Razorbacks got out to a 12-8 lead by the first media timeout at the 14:51 mark in the first half, and the grew that advantage to 20-8 with a 10-point run out of the timeout that featured a pair of 3-pointers from Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic.
Despite losing freshman Karter Knox to injury — on top of already not having Jonas Aidoo or Trevon Brazile — the Razorbacks still managed to stay on fire offensively. Knox eventually returned to the game and played 22 minutes.
The Hogs extended their run to 17-3 and took a 27-11 lead by the 10:06 mark in the first half. Arkansas was shooting 12-for-16 from the field by that point.
Pacific countered that monster run by the Razorbacks with a quick 9-point stretch of their own to cut the deficit to seven points, which remained the case as the Tigers trailed 32-25 at the under-8 minute media timeout.
Both teams found their groove offensively with 13 combined made field goals in a row — five by Arkansas and eight by Pacific — to make it a 42-32 lead for the Hogs by the 3:47 mark.
Arkansas went nearly five minutes without a basket at the end of the first half before a Billy Richmond III dunk went through the net with 25 seconds left. Both teams had just endured a three-minute stretch with no stoppage, and that played in favor of the Tigers, who cut the deficit to 44-37 by the halftime buzzer.
The Razorbacks were shooting an impressive 62.1% (18-for-29) from the field at the break, while Pacific was 8-for-18 from behind the arc.
Pacific opened the second half on fire offensively, as a pair of 3-pointers brought the Tigers within three points (48-45) of the Hogs. Arkansas then found some offense from Fland and Thiero to take a 55-49 lead by the first media timeout (15:10 mark) of the second half.
Fland picked up his third foul at the 14:11 mark, and while the Hogs were already in the bonus by that point, it was notable given the depleted roster with no Aidoo or Brazile. Thiero picked up his third foul 10 seconds later.
The Tigers converted a 3-point play to make it a 2-point game, but Arkansas hit three straight field goals to gain some space with a 66-61 advantage by the under-12 minute timeout. That run continued for the Razorbacks, who regained a double-digit lead by going up 74-63 by the 7:55 mark.
By the time the final media timeout of regulation hit, Pacific was in the midst of a nearly 8-minute long drought without a field goal. Arkansas extended its lead to 81-67 by that point.
Arkansas scored 10 more points over the final stretch of regulation to earn a 91-72 victory.
Up next, the Razorbacks will host the Little Rock Trojans at Bud Walton Arena on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on SEC Network.
