Arkansas beats South Dakota State, 71-56
The No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks improved to 3-0 on the season with an 71-56 win over South Dakota State in the 500th game played at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Once again, Wichita State transfer Ricky Council IV led the Razorbacks with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists. He made one of Arkansas' season-high seven 3-pointers in the contest. The efficient day from deep made up for a rough 8-15 from the free throw line.
Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile earned his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the contest.
The Jackrabbits turned the ball over 20 times, and the Hogs turned those into 23 points.
Here's a recap of Wednesday's win, which was the 18th victory in the month of November under head coach Eric Musselman.
Jordan Walsh opened the game by missing a layup, stealing the ball from the rebounder and making up for the miss with the first field goal for the Hogs.
Following a pair of midrange jumpers from Davonte Davis, the Hogs held a 6-5 lead over the Jackrabbits at the under 16 timeout. South Dakota State already had five turnovers by that point.
Brazile showed off his athleticism with a put-back dunk and a lay in on a lob from Council to make it 12-7. A pair of layups from Council and Arizona State transfer Jalen Graham gave the Hogs a 16-9 lead with 11:12 to go in the first half.
A 4-0 run by South Dakota out of the under 12 timeout was countered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Council and Brazile. A block by Brazile turned into a jam by Council to give Arkansas a 24-15 lead at the 7:27 mark.
The Jackrabbits took advantage of soft defense from the Hogs and went on a 6-0 run in just over a minute to trim the Razorback lead to 31-27 with 2:28 left in the first half. A very frustrated Musselman called for his first timeout of the season, and his words seemed to work.
Arkansas went on a 9-0 run out of the break and finished the half with a 41-29 advantage.
Following a free throw from SDSU to start the half, the Hogs went on an 11-0 run that included a pair of deep shots from Walsh and Davis. Following a thunderous slam from Council, the Jackrabbits called for a timeout as they were down 52-30 with 16:52 left in the contest.
After Walsh had to exit the game with a left leg injury at the 15:10 mark, the Jackrabbits went on a 6-0 run, but it didn't mean much as the Hogs still led 56-37 at the under 12 break.
Anthony Black became the fifth Hog to hit a three and he put his team up by 23 points with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
A 5:50 scoring drought by South Dakota State came to an end at the 6:12 mark in the second half. By that point, the Hogs had a 64-39 lead and the reserves were in the game.
Arkansas had four turnovers and was 0-5 from the field across a 4:46 span going into the under 4 media timeout.
Arguably the biggest highlight of the game came when Brazile dunked over a defender with 1:54 left in the game to send the fans left at Bud Walton Arena into a frenzy.
The slam by Brazile was the final made shot of the night for the Hogs in their 71-56 win.
Box Score:
