Ricky Council IV scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and No. 9 Arkansas rallied to defeat Oklahoma 88-78 in the Crimson and Cardinal Classic on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla.
Recovering from a nine-point first-half deficit to lead by three at the break, the Razorbacks (9-1) steadily pulled away — leading by as many as 16 points — and collected their fifth consecutive victory.
The Sooners (7-3) cut the deficit to 10 in the final three minutes, but Anthony Black and Council punctuated Arkansas’ victory with dunks.
Council made 10 of 15 field goals to go along with five assists. Freshman Nick Smith Jr. had 21 points and Jordan Walsh 12. Makhi Mitchell had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Razorbacks, who lost 88-66 in this matchup last season.
Improving to 14-16 in the series with Oklahoma, Arkansas won for just the fifth time in the past 13 meetings.
For Oklahoma, Grant Sherfield posted 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Milos Uzan had 15 and Jalen Hill added 11.
The Razorbacks held a 58-48 edge in points in the paint and shot 59.3 percent (35 of 59) from the field.
Out of the first media timeout, Oklahoma took off an 11-2 run — getting baskets from five different players on 5-for-5 shooting — to overtake Arkansas and lead 19-11 at 12:38 following Sam Godwin’s dunk.
The hot-shooting Sooners made 10 of their first 12 shot attempts, including a stretch of eight straight, but the Razorbacks managed to trim the deficit to 25-19 with nine minutes left in the half.
In the remainder of a half that was often played in fast-tempo transition, Arkansas regained the lead as Council scored eight straight Razorback points for a 39-38 lead with 1:43 to play. The Southeastern Conference school ended the half on a 10-2 run for a 43-40 lead.
The Razorbacks got 17 points in the opening half from Council and 10 from Smith. Sherfield, Oklahoma’s top scorer, tallied 11 points but went to the bench with his second foul with 4:52 to play.
–Field Level Media