PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. had 36 points and six assists to help No. 4-seeded Arkansas survive a scare from 12th-seeded High Point with a 94-88 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
The Razorbacks (28-8) will face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between top-seeded Arizona and No. 9 seed Utah State on Thursday in the Sweet 16 in San Jose, California.
Two of the highest-scoring teams in the nation combined on a back-and-forth
affair that featured 15 lead changes and six ties, before Arkansas had just enough late to send coach John Calipari to his 17th Sweet 16.
Rob Martin had 30 points, five assists and four rebounds for High Point (31-5), which pulled off a first-round upset of fifth-seeded Wisconsin. Cam’Ron Fletcher, who was recruited by Calipari when he coached at Kentucky, had 25 points.
Acuff, the SEC player of the year and freshman of the year, broke the school’s single-season record for points set by Todd Day in the 1990-91 season. Acuff is just the 27th Division I player with at least 700 points, 200 assists and 100 rebounds in a season.
He had an answer every time it seemed High Point might be set to knock off its second straight power conference team.
After Martin drove the lane to tie it at 83 with 3:17 left, Acuff answered with a layup to make it 85-83. After the teams exchanged turnovers, Acuff made another layup for a four-point lead. After Billy Richmond III blocked a shot, the point guard then hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining to make it 90-83.
Meleek Thomas had 19 points and Malique Ewin had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas breezed by No. 13 seed Hawaii 97-78 in the first round, continuing a roll that propelled the Razorbacks to the Southeastern Conference Tournament title. The Razorbacks were are an 11 1/2 favorite over High Point according to the BetMGM Playbook.
But the Big South Tournament champions stayed with them nearly the entire way.
Johnston, who had the game-winning shot in High Point’s 83-82 win over Wisconsin, gave the Panthers a 42-41 with a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the first half before Acuff drew a foul and made both free throws to give the Razorbacks a 43-42 halftime lead.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
