2nd-half surge lifts Arkansas men to win over Abilene Christian
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On the strength of Tramon Mark’s first career double-double (25 points and a careerhigh 11 rebounds) as well as a spark from reserve guard Keyon Menifield Jr., the Arkansas Razorbacks erased a nine-point deficit early in the second half and outscored Abilene Christian 55-38 in the second half to claim an 83-73 victory.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On the strength of Tramon Mark’s first career double-double (25 points and a careerhigh 11 rebounds) as well as a spark from reserve guard Keyon Menifield Jr., the Arkansas Razorbacks erased a nine-point deficit early in the second half and outscored Abilene Christian 55-38 in the second half to claim an 83-73 victory.
Menifield, playing his second game in a Razorback uniform, had 11 points and six rebounds while posting a team-best plus-21 in the 10-point win. Khalif Battle (plus-17) added 18 points and Chandler Lawson (plus-17) grabbed 10 rebounds.
Arkansas committed 12 first-half turnovers, compared to just four by ACU, and trailed 35-28 at the break. The Wildcats ended the first half with a 13-3 run.
Abilene Christian led by as many as nine at 37-28 after scoring to start the second half. From that point, Arkansas went on a 19-8 run. Included in the run was a 10-0 spurt that saw Menifield give Arkansas its first lead of the half at 44-43 and Battle followed with a 3-point basket. The Wildcats tied the game at 47-all before the Razorbacks went on an 8-0 run and never looked back.
Arkansas only committed five second-half turnovers and shot a blistering 64.3 percent from the field while making 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from 3-point range.
ACU was led by Ali Abdou Dibba, who scored 18 points, while Leonard Bettiol had 14 points and Kavion McClain added 10 points.
Arkansas will close its nonconference portion of the schedule at 4 p.m. Saturday against North Carolina-Wilmington.
