Basketball (M)

Arkansas Pulls Away at Memphis in Hoops for St. Jude Exhibition Game

October 27, 2025
Final Stats

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Meleek Thomas sparked a first-half run and led all scorers with 23 points as #14/15 Arkansas pulled away in the second half for a 99-75 victory at Memphis in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic presented by Bad Boy Mowers.

Thomas also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds with Trevon Brazile and Karter Knox, while getting a team-best four steals and ranking second on the team with four assists.

FIRST HALF: ARK: 42 – MEM: 45

  • Arkansas scored first but Memphis had the next eight points and held the lead until 1:13 left in the first half.
  • Memphis led by as many as 15 (29-14 at the 7:59 mark) in the first half.
  • Down 34-20, Arkansas went on a 22-6 run to take a 42-40 lead. During the run, Meleek Thomas scored 14 points and Billy Richmond III had eight. Thomas made three 3s, had a steal and a dunk and grabbed a defensive rebound which led to a foul and two Thomas free throws to make the score 40-38 in Memphis’ favor. Later, Malique Ewin made two free throws to give Arkansas 42-40 lead.
  • Memphis scored the last five points of the half thanks to two Aaron Bradshaw free throws and an old-fashioned 3-point play with 0.9 seconds left by Quante Berry.
  • After a slow start, Arkansas ended up shooting 47 percent from the field. Memphis shot 45 percent. The difference came at the free throw line. Memphis was 15-of-20 (75%) and Arkansas was 10-of-15 (66.7%).
  • Thomas led all scorers with 14 first half points. Dug McDaniel led Memphis with 11 points.

SECOND HALF: ARK: 57 – CIN: 30

  • Arkansas was down nine early in the second half after Memphis drained a pair of 3-pointers to start the second half.
  • The Razorbacks went on an 18-2 run, including a 7-0 spurt, to lead 60-53 and never looked back. Arkansas held Memphis to 1-of-10 shooting from the field over the stretch.
  • Arkansas shot 64.5% from the field in the second half while holding Memphis to 24.3% shooting.
  • Arkansas out-rebounded the Tigers 28-15 in the second half with 12 assists, five steals and four blocked shots in the period.
  • Arkansas had balanced scoring in the second half as five players scored at least eight points including nine from Darius Acuff Jr., nine from Malique Ewin, nine from Meleek Thomas, eight from Trevon Brazile and eight from Karter Knox.

NOTES:

  • Arkansas’ starting lineup was Darius Acuff Jr., D.J. Wagner, Karter Knox, Trevon Brazile and Nick Pringle.
  • Arkansas won the opening tip.
  • Arkansas scored first on an alley-oop dunk by Nick Pringle from Darius Acuff Jr.
    • Arkansas’ first sub was Malique Ewin.
  • Arkansas improved to 76-11 all-time in exhibition games, including a 2-1 mark in road games.
  • Billy Richmond only made two 3-pointers last season and was 2-of-3 from deep at Memphis.
  • After getting 12 dunks in the first exhibition, Arkansas had eight at Memphis including two each from Melek Thomas and Trevon Brazile.
  • Darius Acuff accounted for seven of the team’s 19 assists.
  • Meleek Thomas led the team in rebounds once again, tying Trevon Brazile and Karter Knox with seven. Thomas also had seven boards in the first exhibition.

For more­­ information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

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