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Arkansas survives a battle with No. 12 High Point to reach second straight Sweet 16 under coach John Calipari

· Yahoo Sports

Darius Acuff led Arkansas past High Point on Saturday nigth to reach the Sweet 16. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)Soobum Im via Getty Images

It took a long time to put the Panthers away, but John Calipari and Arkansas are making a return trip to the Sweet 16.

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The Razorbacks, after a battle with No. 12 High Point, pulled away behind a massive 36-point outing from star Darius Acuff Jr. No. 4 Arkansas picked up a 94-88 win over the Panthers at the Moda Center in Portland, which secured the program’s second straight trip to the Sweet 16 since Calipari took over.

High Point hung in there in the first half, and even took the lead over Arkansas briefly down the stretch after Chase Johnston drained a 3-pointer on the wing. Johnston barely touched the ball before he fired.

Arkansas ended up taking a one-point lead into the locker room. The Razorbacks shot 49% from the field in the first 20 minutes, but just couldn’t get any separation from the Panthers.

It finally looked like the Razorbacks were going to pull away down the stretch, especially after Acuff fought through contact and converted a tough and-one layup just inside the five-minute mark. That put them up by seven points at the time, their largest lead of the game. 

But the Panthers cut it back to a single possession just a minute later when Rob Martin drew a foul on a fast break layup of his own. He tied it up a possession later with an easy layup, too, which got him to 30 points on the night. 

Finally, though, High Point’s shots stopped falling. Johnston missed back-to-back 3-point attempts, and Martin had one blocked, as Arkansas started to come up with several stops in a row. Then it was Acuff who drained a 3-pointer of his own that did the trick. His bucket, with just 60 seconds left on the clock, was enough to push the Razorbacks to the win.

Acuff finished with 36 points and six assists in the win. He shot 11-of-22 from the field and had just two turnovers all night. Meleek Thomas added 19 points, and Billy Richmond had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Martin had 30 points and five assists to lead the Panthers, who only beat Wisconsin on a late layup in the final seconds in the first round. That marked the program’s first NCAA tournament win in history. Cam’Ron Fletcher added 25 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Terry Anderson finished with 15 points.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.

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