Keyshaun Langley poured in 23 points as UNC Greensboro pulled off a 78-72 upset of No. 14 Arkansas on Friday night in Fayetteville, Ark.
Langley made 6 of 11 shots from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, to carry the Spartans (2-1) to the surprising victory. He also made all six of his free-throw attempts and had five assists and four steals.
Mikeal Brown-Jones supplied 17 points as UNC Greensboro put together an efficient offensive performance, knocking down 48.1 percent of its shots.
Friday’s win was UNCG’s first over a Southeastern Conference opponent.
Meanwhile, the Razorbacks (3-1) were anything but efficient, especially from beyond the arc. They went just 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) from long range for the game and were hampered by 12 first-half turnovers.
Tramon Mark supplied 21 points and three steals for Arkansas, which trailed for 35:34 of game time. El Ellis posted 19 points, Khalif Battle notched 11 and Davonte Davis netted 10.
After trailing by 14 at intermission, the Razorbacks slowly but steadily chipped away at its deficit over the first 10-plus minutes of the second half.
Arkansas pulled within four twice, the second instance coming when Davis made a layup with 9:54 to play.
Donovan Atwell then canned a 3-pointer and Joryam Saizonou drove for a layup to put UNC Greensboro back in control. Saizonou later hit a trey before Brown-Jones’ layup with 4:39 remaining made it an 11-point game, and the Spartans held on from there.
Saizonou finished with 12 points.
UNC Greensboro had built a seven-point lead by the time there was 14:32 left in the first half, but the Razorbacks answered with a 9-2 run to tie the score at 15 just under five minutes later.
The Spartans answered with six unanswered points and, after Battle converted a layup, Langley took over.
Langley scored 14 points in the final 6:15 of the first half, sending UNC Greensboro into the break with a commanding 38-24 advantage. He had 18 points before the break.
Mark paced Arkansas with nine first-half points.
–Field Level Media