No. 20 Arkansas clinches SEC double-bye, rolls past Texas

Field Level MediaThu, March 5, 2026 at 2:28 AM UTC

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Mar 4, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Meleek Thomas (1) shoots as Texas Longhorns guards Chendall Weaver (2) and Simeon Wilcher (7) defend in the first half at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images (Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images)

Darius Acuff Jr. had 28 points and tied a season high with 13 assists, senior Trevon Brazile scored a career-high 28 points in his final home game and No. 20 Arkansas clinched a double-bye in the Southeastern Conference tournament with a 105-85 win over Texas in an SEC game Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.

D.J. Wagner scored 15 points, and Meleek Thomas added 13 points for the Razorbacks (22-8, 12-5 SEC), who bounced back strongly after a 111-77 loss at Florida on Saturday.

Acuff was well on his way to his fifth double-double with 19 points and eight assists in the first half, and Brazile had 17 points when the Razorbacks built a 56-34 lead at the break.

Matas Vokietaitis scored 21 points, Tramon Mark added 18 points and Dailyn Swain had 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Longhorns (18-12, 9-8), who have a first-round bye in the SEC tourney.

Arkansas, averaging 89.8 points per game, recorded its seventh 100-point game of the season and finished 16-1 at home.

The Razorbacks shot 58.3% and made 11 of 19 3-point attempts after hitting a season-low 40.0% from the floor against Florida. Acuff had four 3-pointers and Brazile and Wagner each made three.

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Brazile was 9 of 11 from the field and had seven rebounds. Billy Richmond III recoded eight points and nine rebounds.

Acuff's 3-pointer gave the Razorbacks their biggest lead at 72-44 just under five minutes into the second half, and Texas never got closer than 15 after.

Texas point guard Jordan Pope, averaging 13.1 points per game, did not score and played only four minutes due to foul trouble. He picked up his third foul eight minutes into the game and his fourth less than 10 seconds into the second half.

Arkansas is projected as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament by several ranking systems.

Swain made two free throws in the first minute before the Razorbacks went on a 19-2 run to take early control. Acuff and Brazile made 3-pointers, and Acuff had four assists during that stretch.

Acuff scored 11 consecutive Arkansas points in the final five minutes of the first half to extend the lead to 47-30, and Brazile added six straight points for a 53-34 advantage. Acuff's three in the final seconds increased the lead to 56-34 at halftime.

--Field Level Media

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”