Arkansas men’s basketball overcame a slow start to overcome Abilene Christian on Thursday at Bud Walton Arena.
After halftime, guards Tramon Mark and Khalif Battle combined for 31 points to lead the Razorbacks to an 83-73 win. In the second half, Arkansas trailed by nine points.
The Razorbacks moved to 8-4 as they approach their longest regular-season break. Arkansas is not slated to play again until a home game against North Carolina-Wilmington on December 30.
The first half “stunk, stunk, and stunk some more,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “The last 16 minutes of the game, the group of six guys played with energy.” It’s a high-energy practice group. That first half was terrible on both sides of the ball.”
Battle scored eight points during Arkansas’ 10-0 run to take the lead early in the second half. Battle scored a three-pointer in transition to finish a 14-2 run after Keyon Menifield hit a jumper to put the Razorbacks ahead 44-43.
With 13:26 remaining, Leonardo Bettiol’s free throw knotted the game at 47-47. Arkansas took the lead for good when Mark dunked on the opposite end.
It was Mark’s greatest point total since he was stretchered off the court near the conclusion of a 34-point effort against North Carolina on Nov. 24. After returning from injury, Mark scored 32 points in his first three games.
“I think he’s coming back,” Musselman said.
14 of Battle’s 18 points came in the second half.
“We were able to play hard and play smart in the second half,” he remarked, “way better than the first half.”
Neither Mark nor Battle began. Their huge performances helped the Razorbacks to a 62-23 edge in points off the bench.
“Both of those guys were really efficient,” Musselman said. “Battle had his best defensive performance of the season, and it wasn’t even close.” He appeared to have taken a stand. He worked hard in practice this week, and it paid off in the game.”
Arkansas made 9 of 24 (37.5%) shots in the first half, but 18 of 28 (64.3%) after the break. In the second half, the Razorbacks outscored the Wildcats 55-38.
Mark converted 9 of 14 shots. Battle made 5 of 8 shots, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Mark and Battle both hit 5 of 6 free throw attempts as part of the Razorbacks’ 22-for-28 line performance.
Arkansas led by seven points early on, but the Wildcats came back to win the first half.
The Wildcats extended their advantage to nine points twice in the second half, including 39-30 with 19:15 remaining when Airion Simmons converted a driving layup.
From then, Mark and Battle took over.
Mark’s and-1 layup and free throw trimmed the advantage to 39-33. Menifield converted two free throws and Chandler Lawson dunk to trim the margin to 41-37.
That started the game-changing 14-2 run. Battle’s three-pointer with 16:08 remaining trimmed ACU’s advantage to 43-40, and he followed with a pair of free throws.
Arkansas’ shoddy play was exploited by ACU. The Wildcats scored 16 points off the Razorbacks’ 17 turnovers and had 10 steals.
Although Arkansas won the rebounding battle 45-34, ACU got 11 offensive rebounds, which contributed to 19 second-chance points. The Wildcats struggled around the basket, going 15 of 29 on layup attempts.
ACU was led by Ali Abdo Dibba, who scored 18 points.