Darius Acuff Jr. stars as No. 20 Arkansas blasts No. 15 Vanderbilt
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 17 points and added five assists, Malique Ewin and Kevin Knox scored 16 points apiece, and the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks overwhelmed the No. 15 Vanderbilt Commodores 93-68 in an SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark. on Tuesday.
Trevon Brazile had 10 points and 14 rebounds, Meleek Thomas had 13 points and D.J. Wagner added 11 for the Razorbacks (14-5, 4-2 SEC), who had lost two of three.
Arkansas, which never trailed, opened a 34-14 lead with seven minutes left in the first half and the Commodores never were closer than 20 in the final 10 minutes.
Tyler Nickel scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers, Tyler Tanner scored 11 points and Devin McGlockton added 10 for the Commodores (16-3, 3-3), who have lost three in a row after tying the school record with a 16-0 start.
Vanderbilt guards Tanner and Duke Miles, who were averaging a combined 34.7 points per game, had 16 points and were 4 of 17 from the field. Acuff was the primary defender on Tanner.
Acuff and Thomas made three 3-pointers and Knox had two as the Razorbacks went 9 of 22 from distance (40.9%). They led the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (38.4%) entering the game.
Thomas, the team's second-leading scorer, made his third start of the season in place of Wagner, who did not start for the first time this season.
Arkansas is 11-0 at home this season and has won 15 straight at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas, which shot 57.8% from field, had a 39-27 rebounding advantage and scored 50 points in the paint.
Vanderbilt shot 37.9% from the floor, the second time in three games it has been under 38 percent. The Commodores have been out-rebounded by double-digits in each of the last three.
Arkansas built a 34-14 lead with 7:04 left in the first half with 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions -- one apiece by Acuff and Wagner and the final two by Thomas.
Nickel made four of his five first-half 3-pointers in the last seven minutes of the half to bring the Commodores within 46-35 at halftime.