Copyright Arkansas Online
Your browser does not support the audio element. FAYETTEVILLE -- Until freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. scored 14 points in the final 3:15 before halftime, a 109-77 win against Southern for the No. 14 University of Arkansas men's basketball team had the makings of a lower-scoring season opener Monday. Acuff slingshot Arkansas to a 57-32 halftime lead and forward Trevon Brazile scored a career-high 25 points to help pour it on in the second half. Southern scoring 45 points in the second half, outdoing its 32 in the first, marked an instant need for correction, according to the players. "I mean, we gave up (77) points," Brazile said. "That's not going to cut it. We know we've got to be way better defensively. We know the potential we have defensively. That definitely wasn't us out there defensively tonight." Other ranked teams, such as No. 22 Michigan State, No. 20 Auburn, No. 12 UCLA and No. 8 BYU, were given tougher fights in their season openers Monday. Arkansas was never in danger of relinquishing its lead or going into overtime like Auburn had to during a 95-90 win against Bethune-Cookman. But Southern, also a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, shot 12 for 27 on three-pointers (44.4%) and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds to Arkansas' 14. "We gave up 12 threes -- 12," Arkansas Coach John Calipari said. "One guy gave up four. Are you going to figure out that maybe you've got to get closer to make the guy drive? Or you're running back and the guy stops and you just keep running back like, 'It's OK, shoot it.' What are you doing? We leave people. We gambled. And every time we gambled, they threw and they made a three." Arkansas freshman Meleek Thomas became the first Razorback with 21-plus points, 6-plus rebounds, 7-plus assists and 3-plus steals in a game since at least 1996-97, according to HogStats.com. The 5-star prospect and Monday's sixth man said he prides himself on stuffing the stat sheet and believes he's offensively gifted, though wants to master defense. Thomas tied D.J. Wagner with a team-high seven assists. Acuff's 22 points and Thomas' 21 were the second- and third-most by a Razorback freshman in a debut since Patrick Beverley's 29 on Nov. 10, 2006. Still, Thomas said he wanted to follow up on the defense after Brazile's answer. "I could just talk a little bit on that as well," Thomas said. "Like he said, (77) is unacceptable. Because the teams are only going to get better and more physical. So just start putting more emphasis towards that, like we know we can." Arkansas heads to East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday to play No. 22 Michigan State for its first of many ranked nonconference matchups. "If that was a 15-point game and we reverted back to summer basketball like we did defensively -- playing on the side, not helping, not rebounding -- then all of a sudden it's a three-point game," Calipari said. "When you have a chance to bury somebody, forget about the score. You just keep it going so you don't have to worry about those things. They don't understand that right now." Arkansas totaled 10 steals and four blocks. Starting forward Nick Pringle didn't log one in either category, though he stayed out of foul trouble enough to stay on the floor for 25 minutes. The South Carolina transfer played 11 minutes with 4 fouls in a 89-61 exhibition home win against Cincinnati on Oct. 24 and played another 11 in a 99-75 preseason win Oct. 27 at Memphis before fouling out. Pringle had eight points and eight rebounds Monday . "Really did some great stuff defensively," Calipari said of Pringle. "He really defends. He's where he's supposed to be. He understands position basketball. He's really good in pick-and-roll defense. If he switches on a guard, he can guard. Now we've got to do some things to get him the ball around the basket, where you catch it and dunk some. But he's been a pleasure to coach." Calipari also singled out Springdale freshman Isaiah Sealy, who played 17 minutes, scored 12 points and was 6 of 6 at the free-throw line. The coach said he "loves the kid," though he is behind defensively in knowing his positioning on the floor. If sophomore wing Karter Knox, who didn't play Monday with a toe sprain, can play at Michigan State, Sealy's opportunities could shrink. Sophomore Billy Richmond III fouled out in his first career start in place of Knox. "Billy fouled tonight and they were like, 'Why would you do that?' " Calipari said. "We didn't keep people in front. We were on the sides and so they drive. Like, Isaiah is going to be on SportsCenter tonight. The kid went on his side, he drove and dunked on him. This ain't high school, where I'll let you drive by me and I'll block it. Yeah, you block that." "Like I said, there's a lot of stuff that I'm going to be able to teach from this tape." Matt Byrne is the Bob Holt Razorback Reporter, named in honor of the longtime reporter who covered University of Arkansas sports. This position is funded by the ADG Community Journalism Project.
