Career efforts from pair lift No. 21 Arkansas past Auburn
Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. tied a career high with 31 points and made a career-best seven 3-pointers as No. 21 Arkansas ran away from short-handed Auburn 88-75 on Saturday night in Fayetteville, Ark.
Billy Richmond III scored a career-high 25 points for the Razorbacks. He was 12 of 15 from the field with four assists, three steals and two blocked shots for the Razorbacks (19-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference), who moved into second place behind No. 14 Florida (19-6, 10-2).
Tahaad Pettiford had 29 points and seven assists and KeShawn Murphy scored a career-high 22 points and added 12 rebounds for the Tigers (14-11, 5-7), who have lost four in a row after a four-game winning streak.
Acuff made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions early in the second half when Arkansas opened on a 15-2 run to take a 53-34 lead.
The Tigers got within eight points twice in the second half but were never closer than 10 points in the final eight minutes.
The Razorbacks shot 57.4% (35 of 61) from the field. Acuff was 10 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 10 from distance. Teammate Meleek Thomas had eight points and 10 rebounds, and Trevon Brazile had 11 points and seven boards.
The Razorbacks avenged their worst SEC loss of the season, a 95-73 defeat at Auburn on Jan. 10.
The Tigers played without leading scorer Keyshawn Hall (20.7 points per game), benched for disciplinary reasons, according to coach Steven Pearl. Hall had 32 points in the first meeting.
Auburn shot 40.9% (27 of 66) from the field. Murphy and Pettiford were 20 of 34 and the rest were 7 of 32.
Acuff made a 3-pointer and Richmond converted two layups on a 10-0 run to give Arkansas a 16-9 lead eight minutes into the game. Acuff's third 3-pointer of the first half extended the run to 20-6 and pushed the Razorbacks' lead to 26-15.
Murphy and Pettiford scored Auburn's final 30 Auburn points of the first half. Murphy had 18 on 8 of 12 from the floor, and his dunk with 3:58 left brought the Tigers within two at 30-28. The Razorbacks led 38-32 at half.
Arkansas wing Karter Knox, who missed the previous two games with knee issues, exited with an apparent left knee injury with 6:42 left in the contest.