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The 8-seed Arkansas Razorbacks controlled the game from nearly start to finish in Thursday's 73-63 win over the 9-seed Illinois Fighting Illini in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Benefited by a strong first half performance and resilience to keep the lead in the second half, the Razorbacks won their third straight first round NCAA Tournament game.

Here's HawgBeat's takeaways, observations, stats, notes, quotes, efficiency ratings and much more from Thursday's victory: