PORTLAND, Ore. — Darius Acuff Jr. had 24 points and seven assists, Meleek Thomas had 21 points and fourth-seeded Arkansas blew out 13th-seeded Hawaii 97-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament West Region on Thursday.
Trevon Brazile scored 19 points and Malique Ewin added 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Southeastern Conference champion Razorbacks (27-8), who have won six straight.
Thomas had eight rebounds and five assists, and Billy Richmond III had 10 points and seven rebounds for the athletic Razorbacks. They shot 54.2% (39 of 72) and made 11 dunks, several of the highlight-reel variety, and 17 of 22 layups.
Arkansas, which never trailed, led 20-4 seven minutes into the game and went on to lead by as many as 23 points.
Dre Bullock tallied 21 points and eight rebounds, Isaac Johnson had 15 points and Isaac Finlinson scored 12 for the Big West tournament champion Rainbow Warriors (24-9). Isaiah Kerr added 11 points and five assists.
The Razorbacks will play 12th-seeded High Point in the second round Saturday. High Point upset Wisconsin 83-82 in the first round on Chase Johnston’s layup with 11 seconds remaining.
Ewin had his season high in assists and was one rebound short of his season high while starting in place of forward Nick Pringle, who missed the game for an undisclosed reason.
Thomas left with an apparent injury with 16:40 remaining but returned five minutes later.
Acuff, the SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, is the only player in Division I averaging at least 20 points and six assists per game.
Acuff had five points and his first 3-pointer when Arkansas opened the game on an 11-0 run and just kept building.
Thomas’ layup made it 15-2, Brazile’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 20-4 and Thomas’ jumper gave the Razorbacks a 26-7 lead at 11:38 of the half. The Rainbow Warriors missed 11 of their first 13 field-goal attempts.
Ewin, Brazile and Richmond had dunks in the final three minutes of the first half to put Arkansas ahead 54-36 at intermission.
Acuff’s 3-pointer made it 73-53 with 12:17 remaining and Hawaii never drew closer than 15.
–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media
