Brazile, Battle and defense lead Arkansas to 80-75 victory over No. 7 Duke
Arkansas' Lawson Blake (45) celebrates with fans after defeating Duke in an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Fayetteville, Ark. Credit: AP/Michael Woods
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Trevon Brazile had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Khalif Battle scored 21 off the bench and Arkansas held on to beat No. 7 Duke 80-75 on Wednesday night.
Playing without leading scorer Tramon Mark, the Razorbacks (5-3) snapped a two-game skid before a capacity crowd of 20,344 — a record at Bud Walton Arena. When the final horn sounded, fans rushed the floor to celebrate.
“It was awesome. Words can’t describe the feeling right now. It’s a great win," coach Eric Musselman said after his 100th victory at Arkansas.
Preseason All-American Kyle Filipowski was held to three points for the Blue Devils (5-2) in the first half. He played a key role in their late rally, though, finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
“We talk about confrontations all the time. When you go to the basket, you’ve got to go with conviction,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I thought a few times we were going just to get our shots off. Against a team like them, you’re not going to be very efficient just trying to get your shot off.”
Mark is with the Razorbacks but he sat out because of a back injury after he was carted off the court and taken to a hospital following a hard fall during their previous game in the Bahamas. Musselman pointed to his reserves as one of the biggest reasons Arkansas was able to overcome the absence of Mark, who is averaging 18.4 points per game.
“When you look at the bench points, 36-9, I think that was a big part of tonight’s win,” Musselman said. “Because when you’re down your leading scorer and your bench goes out and outscores an opponent like that, that’s that talented, with a full roster, it’s pretty clear that we do have some depth.”
Duke guard Jeremy Roach (3) is fouled as he tries to drive past an Arkansas defender during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Fayetteville, Ark. Credit: AP/Michael Woods
Arkansas stayed in the game early with defense, ultimately limiting Duke to 36% shooting. But it was a scoring run midway through the second half that finally broke things open in a game that was part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Neither team led by more than three in the first 28 minutes of the game, which included 16 lead changes. But then Arkansas went on a quick 7-0 spurt in 59 seconds just before the under-12 media timeout in the second half, prompting a Duke timeout as the Razorbacks’ lead grew to eight.
Three minutes later, Scheyer burned another timeout, his team trailing by 13 after Brazile's blocked shot was taken the other way and finished for a layup by Layden Blocker.
Arkansas pushed the margin to 67-53 and was still up by 12 with 2:10 left before the Blue Devils cut their deficit to four with 46 seconds remaining by going on a 10-2 run. It was down to three with 18 seconds to go, but Arkansas went 4 of 6 at the free-throw line down the stretch to stave off a collapse.
Duke center Kyle Filipowski (30) is fouled as he tries to drive past Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Fayetteville, Ark. Credit: AP/Michael Woods
Chandler Lawson had seven points, eight rebounds and six blocks for Arkansas. Battle scored 15 in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Duke: In their first visit to Bud Walton Arena, a five-point loss for the Blue Devils to a likely NCAA Tournament team in one of the SEC’s toughest environments isn’t really cause for alarm.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks could find themselves back in the AP Top 25 next week. Arkansas started the season at No. 14 but fell out of the poll after losing two in a row in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
HOT AND NOT
Arkansas shot 61% from the field in the second half, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Duke hit just 37% in the final 20 minutes.
THROWBACK
It was the fifth meeting between two of college basketball's most dominant programs during the 1990s. Three of the previous four were played in the NCAA Tournament, and the first three came in the '90s, a decade in which Arkansas went to three Final Fours with one national championship and Duke made five Final Fours and won two titles.
AN HONOR
Arkansas honored its 1993-94 NCAA championship team on its 30th season anniversary. Former coach Nolan Richardson and guard Scotty Thurman were introduced at breaks. The Razorbacks beat Duke 76-72 in the title game with the help of Thurman’s decisive 3-pointer.
UP NEXT
Duke starts Atlantic Coast Conference play Saturday at Georgia Tech.
Arkansas hosts Furman on Monday.
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