On Saturday night, Newark hosted the eighth edition of the Never Forget Tribute Classic. This year’s game featured two Top 25 teams: the eighth-ranked Houston Cougars and the fourteenth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, coached by former New Jersey Nets head coach John Calipari. The event also marked the return of Arkansas guard and former McDonald’s All-American D.J. Wagner to New Jersey, where he played high school basketball at Camden High School.
Houston traveled to The Garden State and will return south with a 94-85 victory over Arkansas in front of a very pro-Razorback crowd at Prudential Center.
Houston maintained an 11-8 lead as the game entered the first media timeout. The Houston defense was highly aggressive, making it difficult for the Razorbacks to secure high-quality shots early in the game. Nevertheless, despite Houston’s trapping tactics on Arkansas players, there was consistently an open opponent beyond the arc, resulting in two uncontested three-pointers, including one from Wagner, during the initial minutes of the half.
The pace of the game picked up noticeably as the half went on, catching Houston off guard because their style is more grit-and-grind, relying on many half-court sets on offense. The faster pace benefited the Cougars, who went on a 9-0 run to lead 28-17 with 11:59 left in the first half. During this run, Houston forced two turnovers, while Arkansas had five in less than half a game after averaging just nine per season.
After going four minutes without a field goal, Arkansas ramped up its defense as it began to tighten on the Cougars. Houston went without a field goal for three minutes, allowing Arkansas to go on a 12-1 run and cut the deficit to 10 points, 41-31. A Joseph Tugler layup ended the field goal drought, as the hot shooting for both teams cooled off and they struggled to make shots (Arkansas went nearly three minutes without a field goal, Houston over five minutes). Darius Acuff Jr.’s layup with two seconds left in the half reduced the Arkansas deficit to 49-41 at halftime. Acuff led the Razorbacks with 16 points, while Ramon Walker Jr. and Kingston Flemings scored nine each for Houston.
Arkansas (11-1) came out in the second half with the strategy of getting the ball in the paint to Malique Ewin and he delivered scoring six points, including 4-of-7 from the foul line, in the opening minutes. Arkansas reduced the lead to eight multiple times, but they answered each time to extend it back to double digits, leading 61-50 at the first media timeout of the second half.
Although Houston led at halftime, it went through another stretch without scoring a field goal, this time for almost four minutes. They survived the futility as Arkansas went 1-for-8 from the field as the Cougars maintained a double-digit lead. Each time Arkansas tried to build momentum with a three-pointer or a dunk, Houston countered with a dunk or three of their own. After an Ewin dunk, the Cougars responded with a Milos Uzan three-pointer to keep the lead steady.
While Arkansas showed improved turnover numbers in the second half, it wasn’t enough, as Houston shot 46 percent from beyond the arc and Arkansas missed 14 free throws, helping Houston secure a win that will boost its resume heading into conference play.
Emanuel Sharp scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Cougars. Flemmings added 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in the win.
Acuff scored 27 points and dished out seven assists for Arkansas. In his homecoming, Wagner scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting as he struggled with foul trouble throughout the game.
