Arkansas ends 2023 with win over UNC Wilmington
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (9-4) earned a 106-90 win over the UNC Wilmington Seahawks (9-3) on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena in the Hogs' final tune-up before conference play,.
Sophomore guard Keyon Menifield Jr. led the scoring for the Hogs with 32 points, while Tramon Mark (18), Jalen Graham (16), Devo Davis (13) and Trevon Brazile (10) joined him in double figure scoring.
As a team, the Hogs shot 52.4% from the field and 35% from three, while holding the Seahawks to 42.4% and 35.7%, respectively.
Arkansas cleaned up the glass fairly well, out rebounding Wilmington 40-35 in the game. It's worth noting, however, the Seahawks brought down 15 offensive rebounds which led to 25 second-chance points.
The Hogs and Hawks tussled for the first 10 minutes of the first half before a pair of threes from UNCW's KJ Jenkins pushed the Seahawks out to a six-point lead.
Arkansas responded, though, with a 7-0 run of their own capped off by a thunderous alley-oop slam dunk by Trevon Brazile, giving the Hogs a one-point advantage.
In the final minutes of the first half, Menifield went on a tear, scoring 11 points in a little over two-and-a-half minutes of game time, pushing the Hogs to a 48-42 lead heading into halftime.
In the second half, the Hogs would grow their lead to as many as 18, and outside of a 6-0 run by the Seahawks with 17:26 left in the game didn't allow Wilmington much of a chance to retaliate.
The Hogs outscored the Seahawks 58-48 in the second half, and while there's still question marks around the three-point defense, the Razorbacks did what they had to do to win the game fairly easily.
Here are the highlights from Saturday's contest.
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Box Score
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