No. 20 Arkansas was dominant from the opening tip Tuesday night, rolling past No. 15 Vanderbilt 93-68 at Bud Walton Arena behind balanced scoring, crisp ball movement and stifling defense.
Six Razorbacks scored in double figures as Arkansas finished with 25 assists and just seven turnovers while out-rebounding the Commodores 39-27. Trevon Brazile anchored the effort with his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds to go with five assists, four steals and two blocks.
Freshmen Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas each handed out five assists. Acuff scored 17 points, Thomas added 13, while Malique Ewin and Karter Knox finished with 16 apiece.
D.J. Wagner provided a spark off the bench in his first non-start as a Razorback, scoring 11 points with three assists and no turnovers. Head coach John Calipari said the move was intended to “get D.J. going,” and Wagner delivered.
Arkansas led 46-35 at halftime after jumping out to a 13-2 start and stretching the lead to as many as 20 in the first half. Vanderbilt trimmed the margin early in the second half, but the Razorbacks quickly reasserted control, shooting 61.3% after the break and holding the Commodores to 36.0%.
Vanderbilt, which entered the game ranked 10th nationally in scoring and 24th in field-goal percentage, was limited to 68 points on 37.9% shooting. Tyler Nickel led the Commodores with 17 points, all in the first half.
The 25-point victory marked Arkansas’ fourth win over an AP Top 25 opponent this season and one of its largest margins against a ranked team. The Razorbacks return to action Saturday at Bud Walton Arena against LSU, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
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