That’s all, folks
Arkansas sends Illinois home in first round with big defensive effort
DES MOINES, Iowa — Ricky Council IV scored 18 points and Arkansas survived some anxious moments in the second half against an Illinois team that wouldn’t go away, holding on to beat the Illini 73-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
Devo Davis had 16 points for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks, who used relentless defense and rebounding to build big leads but couldn’t get comfortable until the final minute. Arkansas (21-13) faces top-seeded Kansas on Saturday in the second round of the West Region.
Terrence Shannon Jr., held scoreless the first 16 minutes, finished with 20 points to lead the Illini (20-13). It was the first time in five tournament appearances since 2011 that Illinois didn’t make it out of the first round.
On paper, this matchup was one of the most even of the first round. The teams’ season stat sheets were nearly identical, and they were trending similarly with Arkansas having lost six of its last nine coming in and Illinois six of its last 10.
The Razorbacks were up double digits in the middle of the first half, but no lead has been safe this season. In seven games they blew leads with scoring droughts of five minutes or longer.
That didn’t happen this time, though it looked like it could when Arkansas failed to land what could have been the knockout punch with 2½ minutes to play. Anthony Black intercepted Coleman Hawkins’ cross-court pass and Council missed the fast-break dunk when he would have been better served to lay it in. The blown play left Arkansas coach Eric Musselman flailing his arms and screaming.
Council atoned with a layup to end a 4-minute, 13-second scoring drought, and his two free throws with 1:18 left put the Razorbacks up 68-57. Arkansas led by as many as 14 points in the first half and went to the locker room ahead 36-26 following a scrambling play under the basket where Kamani Johnson battled three Illinois players for a loose ball.