DETROIT — In the first round of the NCAA, No. 8-seed Arkansas fell to No. 10-seed Butler, 79-62, to wrap up the season at 23-12 overall after advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.
From the tip, the Bulldogs were on fire.
Butler hit eight of its first 11 shots to build a 19 points lead with less than seven minutes into the game. Arkansas would settle in though, creating offense through its defense.
The Razorbacks forced Butler to miss 13 of its next 15 shots, going on a 27-6 run to eventually climb all the way back and take a lead before the first half ended. In that run, Arkansas had separate runs of 10-0 and 13-0.
After the early drought, the Razorbacks got big minutes from their bench, as the guys off the pine posted 12 first half points, as C.J. Jones, Darious Hall and Arlando Cook each posted four. Butler would take a 36-31 lead into the break.
After Arkansas was able to get the Butler lead to four, the Bulldogs ran off a 13-4 run to stretch the game back out to 13. Like in the first half, the Razorbacks would claw right back getting the game to six, before Butler would call a timeout with 10 minutes remaining.
From that point, Butler outscored Arkansas 26-15 to stretch its lead back out and take the win the 17-point victory.
Senior guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon were the only to Razorbacks to finish in double figures in scoring, leading Arkansas with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Butler outrebounded the Razorbacks 45-25 and outscored the Hogs in the paint by a mark of 34 to 22.
