Darius Acuff Jr. hit five 3-pointers, including a key trey down the stretch, en route to 37 points as No. 15 Arkansas held off Oklahoma 82-79 in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals in Nashville on Friday.
Acuff beat the shot clock on a 3-pointer for a 79-75 edge with 27 seconds left, and after Tae Davis’ layup, Acuff made 1 of 2 free throws with 10 seconds remaining to close the scoring.
Nijel Pack’s long 3-point attempt with six seconds remaining hit the rim, and the 11th-seeded Sooners could not control the offensive rebound.
Third-seeded Arkansas (24-8) will meet surprising Ole Miss (15-19) in the semifinals on Saturday. The 15th-seeded Rebels, who had lost 12 of their last 13 regular-season games, have not trailed in their three SEC tourney wins.
Trevon Brazile had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Razorbacks, who have won eight of their past 10 games.
Pack scored 19 points, Derrion Reid and Davis each scored 17 and Mohamed Wague added 13 for the Sooners (19-15), who had won six in a row and were left with the hope that their two SEC tournament wins were enough to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
There were 11 ties and 16 lead changes, and Acuff’s fifth 3-pointer gave the Razorbacks their largest lead, 76-69, with 2:27 left.
The Sooners were the first team out of the NCAA field of 68 in ESPN’s projections Friday, just behind SMU and SEC schools Texas and Missouri and just ahead of Auburn. All of those teams finished conference tournament play with losses.
Arkansas is a projected fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Acuff, the SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, had 21 points in the first half and showed no ill effects after missing the regular-season finale against Missouri because of a nagging left ankle injury.
He shot 11 of 21 from the field, 5 of 9 on 3-point attempts and 10 of 12 at the free-throw line. Acuff added five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Acuff scored 18 of the Razorbacks’ first 24 points, and his 3-pointer just before the half cut the Sooners’ lead to 39-37 entering the break. Pack had 16 points in the first half.
–Field Level Media
