Razorbacks take down No. 7 Duke in SEC-ACC Challenge, then knock off Furman

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Before the largest crown in Bud Walton Arena history, on the 30th anniversary of the first game played in the facility, Arkansas got 21 points from Khalif Battle and a double-double from Trevon Brazile to defeat No. 7 Duke 80-75 in the SEC-ACC Challenge.

With the victory, Arkansas men’s coach Eric Musselman picked up his 100th win with the Razorbacks (5-3 with the win). He is 100-45 in his fifth year in Fayetteville and 210-79 in his ninth year as a collegiate coach.

On Monday at Bud Walton Arena, the Hogs got past Furman by a score of 97-83 In the upset win over Duke, Arkansas played without its leading scorer Tramon Mark, who was injured against North Carolina in the Razorbacks’ final game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. However, Battle picked up the slack and led the team in scoring for the fourth time. In all four instances, he scored 21 points, made five field goals, three 3-point baskets and eight free throws. He added five rebounds and five assists — one shy of his career high.

Brazile made a career-high four 3-pointers, including a key triple with 2:16 left to put the Hogs up 12, and finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and third over his last four games.

El Ellis was also a central figure in the win. He scored nine points but drew seven fouls and had six assists with zero turnovers.

Duke entered the game 21st in the NCAA in field goal percentage (50.7 percent) but the Razorbacks held the Blue Devils (5-2) to just 35.8 percent shooting thanks to 10 blocked shots — a career-high six from Chandler Lawson. Duke was also eighth in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio, but only had 10 helpers with eight turnovers against the Hogs.

After getting just 19 assists in three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis, Arkansas dished out 17 — on 26 made baskets — in the win over Duke, including 10 assists on 12 made baskets in the first half. Arkansas also outscored the Blue Devils’ bench 36-9 thanks to Battle’s 21 points.

The first half featured eight ties and 16 lead changes. The last lead change came on a Jeremiah Davenport 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to give the Razorbacks a 33-32 lead at the break.

Arkansas opened the second half with a pair of field goals and held the lead the rest of the game. Arkansas pushed the lead to as many as 14 twice in the second half.

Duke’s press allowed the Blue Devils to trim the deficit to three points with 17 seconds left. However, Davonte Davis made a free throw with 15 ticks left and, after Duke missed a shot on the ensuing possession, Battle went 1-of-2 at the line with five seconds left to secure the win.

In the victory over Furman, Battle reached the 1,000-point mark for his career on his first shot attempt – a 3-pointer at 16:07 of the first half, and finished with a season-high 25 points.

Lawson and Davis also played a key role in the win. Lawson had a career-high 19 points (8-of-10 shooting) with three blocked shots. Davis nearly had a triple-double with seven points while tying career highs in both rebounds (10) and assists (8).

For the second-straight game, Arkansas had a high assistto- baskets made percentage, dishing out 21 assists on 37 made baskets. As a result, the Razorbacks shot 60.7 percent from the field, which is the fourth-best shooting percentage by the Hogs during the Musselman era and fifth best by any Musselman-coached collegiate team.

Battle and Lawson scored two quick baskets for the Hogs to start the second half and the Razorbacks never looked back. Furman hung around and was down six (58-52 with 11:57 left). Arkansas then went on a 15-1 run to lead by 20 with 9:16 left.

Furman got as close as seven twice, the last with 52 seconds left, but the Paladins didn’t score the rest of the way while Arkansas was able to break the press for the 14-point win.

Arkansas’ defense held Furman to just 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from 3-point range in the second half while the Hogs made 5-of-10.

Brazile finished with 13 points and two blocked shots. Layden Blocker contributed nine points (4-of-5 FG) with a season-high five rebounds, a season-high five assists and a season-high three blocked shots. In fact, Blocker entered the game with 10 total rebounds, four total assists and one blocked shot.

Furman was led by J.P. Pegues and Alex Williams. Pegues had 21 points, going 10-of-10 from the line, while Williams scored 20 points thanks to five 3-point baskets.

Arkansas shot an impressive 60 percent from the field and all 10 Razorbacks that played in the period scored at least two points. However, Furman made its first five 3-pointers and finished the half with eight of its 13 made baskets from 3-point range to keep it the Paladins within striking distance.

The Razorbacks will meet the Oklahoma Sooners in the third and final Crimson and Cardinal Classic at 3 p.m. Saturday at Tulsa’s BOK Center.