Ricky Council IV scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half as No. 11 Arkansas held off visiting Troy for a 74-61 victory on Monday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Council shot 12 for 18 from the field to go along with three rebounds, while Makhi Mitchell had 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting and added nine rebounds. Anthony Black finished with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting, in addition to eight rebounds and three assists.
The Razorbacks (6-1) trailed by three with 6:53 remaining before ending the game on a 19-3 run. Arkansas shot 27 of 51 (52.9 percent) from the field, including 3 of 11 (27.4 percent) from 3-point range, and outrebounded the Trojans 33-26.
Troy (6-2) was led by Nelson Phillips, who had 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Christyon Eugene added 13 points. Zay Williams chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
The Trojans shot 24 of 56 (42.9 percent) from the field, including 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
With the Razorbacks trailing 58-55, Council took over, hitting consecutive layups before knocking down a 3-pointer that gave Arkansas a 62-58 lead with 4:34 to go.
Kamani Johnson kept the run going with two free throws before Council made two more jumpers for a 68-58 lead with 2:07 left in the game.
After the Trojans took their largest lead of the first half at 25-18 on Eugene’s layup with 6:06 left, the Razorbacks chipped away and pulled to within 33-31 at halftime.
Phillips went 4 of 9 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 first-half points and five rebounds, while Eugene added eight points for the Trojans.
Troy was efficient on offense, shooting 13 of 26 (50 percent) from the floor and 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Arkansas was led by Mitchell’s 10 first-half points on 5-for-6 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, while Council chipped in eight points.
The Razorbacks shot 11 of 26 (42.3 percent) from the field, including a woeful 1 of 6 (16.7 percent) from distance before halftime.
–Field Level Media
