[autotag]Arkansas basketball[/autotag]’s Thanksgiving menu was nasty.
With 18 turnovers and three technical fouls, the only thing that was served was a loss.
The 20th-ranked Razorbacks were undisciplined in Thursday’s 84-79 loss to Memphis, a loss that will almost certainly knock them from the AP Top 25, the only poll in which they were still ranked entering the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. Taking their place is likely Memphis.
The Tigers did not exactly dominate Arkansas, even if the Razorbacks never led in the second half. Forward David Jones had his way, scoring a career-high 36 points on 10 of 14 shooting and a 12-of-14 mark from the free-throw line, but everyone else on the Memphis roster was standard.
The Razorbacks were done in by their own mistakes. Memphis scored 27 points off 18 Arkansas turnovers and used the break to outscore the Hogs, 15-4.
Four Arkansas players finished in double figures and the team as a whole shot 46% from the field, but the largest lead the team could ever manage was five points. Memphis did enough to stick around and then pounced when the Razorbacks faltered.
The Tigers scored seven points after the three Arkansas technical fouls, two more points than the final margin.
Now Arkansas will play for third place in Bahamas on Friday, tipping against No. 14 North Carolina, which lost in the other semifinal against Villanova. The Razorbacks and Tar Heels haven’t met since 2017 in the Phil Knight Invitational, though North Carolina has won the last four meetings dating back to 2008.