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MEMPHIS -- University of Arkansas men's basketball Coach John Calipari called on freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. from the end of the bench to sit beside him with eight minutes left in the first half of the Razorbacks' 99-75 exhibition victory over Memphis on Monday night at FedExForum. Acuff had missed a pair of layups and three-pointers already.
The coach's wisdom was soon interfered by the need to shout at players, guiding them through Memphis' full-court press. It didn't work. Sophomore forward Karter Knox passed into an eighth turnover within 12 minutes for the 14th-ranked Razorbacks.
Arkansas, which trailed by 15 points then, didn't commit another turnover for the rest of the half and responded with a 28-16 run. At the start, Arkansas appeared like a completely different team than it did Friday in a 89-61 exhibition win over Cincinnati at home. The Razorbacks used the same starting five Monday: Acuff, D.J. Wagner, Knox, Trevon Brazile and Nick Pringle.
By the end, the Razorbacks blossomed into a better version of themselves by overcoming a physical preseason opponent. Though an exhibition by name, cheers by dueling Arkansas and Memphis fan bases stuffed an NBA arena in Calipari's return after coaching the Tigers from 2000-09. Billy Richmond III, a Memphis native, had a key steal-and-score and a three-pointer minutes later to sustain the first-half run.
Freshman guard Meleek Thomas kept the Hogs afloat in the first half with a trio of three-pointers for 14 points. The former 5-star prospect finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting for the second straight exhibition. Richmond and fellow 5-star freshman Acuff added 13 and 17 points, respectively, in support. Brazile, Knox and Thomas led with seven rebounds each and Acuff tallied a game-high seven assists.
Transfer guard Dug McDaniel paced the Tigers with 19 points on 5-for-11 shooting and dished out 6 assists. The senior kicked off a pair of eight-point scoring runs by Memphis during the first 10 minutes. McDaniel also scored five points alone to pull within 79-69 with 5:29 left in the game; Arkansas finished the game on a 20-6 run. Memphis gradually worsened, going 9 of 37 from the field in the second half to finish 22 for 68 for the game.
Arkansas shot 34 for 61 (55.7%) Monday after finishing 33 for 62 (53%) on Friday.
The Hogs will host their season opener Nov. 3 against Southern.
Matt Byrne is the Bob Holt Razorback Reporter, named in honor of the longtime reporter who covered University of Arkansas sports. This position is funded by the ADG Community Journalism Project.