Arkansas basketball has helped North Carolina twice in a week now.
Five days after the Razorbacks fell to UNC in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game, Arkansas’ third straight loss, the Hogs snapped the mini-skid, knocking off the Tar Heels’ biggest rival, Duke, on Wednesday in a raucous Bud Walton Arena, 80-75.
Arkansas broke things open with 12:13 left when a 7-0 run, capped by Khalif Battle’s running 3-pointer, made Duke call a timeout. Arkansas’ lead was up to eight at that point. Less than a minute earlier, neither team had led by more than three points the whole game.
Arkansas’ lead grew as large as 14 points, allowing the Razorbacks to lock things down in the final 10 minutes as Duke would only cut the lead down to single digits one more time.
Trevon Brazile scored 19 points and collected 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and Khalif Battle added another 21 points off the bench to lead the Razorbacks.
A record crowd of 20,344 were in attendance, many of whom rushed the floor after the win in a fitting end for a game that recalled the glory days of the 1990s when both teams were among the best in college basketball.
Arkansas next plays Monday at home against Furman.