Adou Thiero tallied 23 points, including six dunks, as the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks defeated the pesky University of Pacific Tigers 91-72 Monday night in Fayetteville, Ark.
In their fourth game under new coach John Calipari, the Razorbacks (3-1) led by as many as 16 points in the first half but saw the Tigers (3-3) get to within a basket twice in the second.
Thiero made 8-of-10 shots from the field and 6-of-7 free-throw attempts. He added six rebounds and four steals.
Boogie Fland scored 20 points, while Zvonimir Ivisic and D.J. Wagner had 15 and 14, respectively.
The Razorbacks shot 59.6 percent (31 of 52) from the field and 42.9 percent (9 of 21) from long range while playing with just seven players. Arkansas limited Pacific to 24-for-60 shooting (40 percent) from the field and 12-for-35 shooting (34.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Following a three-game winning streak to open the campaign, Pacific lost for the third straight time — a much better showing than its 6-26 overall record and 0-16 West Coast Conference mark last season.
After making his first eight shots from the field, Elijah Fisher netted 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Lamar Washington had 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jefferson Koulibaly and Elias Ralph (10 rebounds) had 12 points apiece.
Arkansas produced three steals right away, leading to a layup by Fland and two slam dunks by Thiero for a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes. A 10-point run soon made it 20-8 at 12:47.
A second 3-pointer by Ivisic and a third dunk for Thiero extended the lead to 27-11 at the half’s midpoint, but Pacific’s long-range shooting, led by Koulibaly, kept the western visitors within single digits.
Fisher made two layups inside the final two minutes, sending the Tigers to the locker room trailing just 44-37.
Pacific canned 8 of 18 treys to hang in with it SEC opponent, with Koulibaly hitting four of his five attempts.
In the second half, Fisher’s early trey trimmed it to 48-45 in the first 1:52, and the visitors narrowed it to three again, 57-54, on Fisher’s two free throws at 13:35.
Thiero connected on three freebies and his final dunk as Arkansas created a double-digit gap.
Meanwhile, Pacific missed 13 straight field goals in just over 10 minutes late in the half.
