No. 21 Arkansas cruises past Mississippi State, 88-68, behind Acuff's 24 points

Audio By Carbonatix

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Darius Acuff scored 24 points and Trevon Brazile added 19 to lead No. 21 Arkansas to an 88-68 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.

The Razorbacks (17-6, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) shot 52% from the field and made-eight 3 pointers while securing their largest margin of victory in an SEC road game this year. Meleek Thomas added 17 points for Aransas while Billy Richmond had 14.

Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State (11-12, 3-7) with 16 points but failed to make a 3 pointer. Hubbard entered Saturday having made at least one 3 in 69 consecutive games, an SEC record. Hubbard was 7 of 15 from the field but 0 of 4 from 3-point range.

Achor Achor had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs and freshman Jamarion Davis-Fleming added 12 points. After a 2-0 start in SEC play, Mississippi State has lost seven of its last eight conference games.

The Bulldogs went just 3 of 15 from 3-point territory and had 11 turnovers. Arkansas outscored Mississippi State 19-4 in points off turnovers.

A 3-point play by Acuff capped off a 20-2 run by Arkansas midway through the first half and Mississippi State never really threatened after that spurt.

Led by 50% shooting in the first half, Arkansas had a 43-30 halftime advantage.

Acuff finished the game with eight assists and five rebounds.

Arkansas: The Razorbacks travel to LSU on Tuesday.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs host No. 25 Tennessee on Wednesday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball