NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Emanuel Sharp scored 22 points, Kingston Flemings added 21 and No. 8 Houston used some excellent long-range shooting to beat No. 14 Arkansas 94-85 on Saturday.
The Cougars (11-1) shot 44% from 3-point distance (11 for 25) and 52% from the field overall in winning their fifth straight game.
Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. led Arkansas (9-3) with 27 points and seven assists. Malique Ewin added 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Razorbacks, who had won four in a row.
Milos Uzan scored 13 points and Ramon Walker Jr. added 12 off the bench for the Cougars. Sharp moved past Hakeem Olajuwon into 22nd place in Houston history with 1,341 career points.
The Razorbacks led for just 1:14 early in the game and never got closer than seven in the second half. Arkansas took 35 free throws but made only 21 (60%).
The Cougars scored 19 points off 12 Arkansas turnovers.
Houston took its largest lead of the second half when Chase McCarty nailed a 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead 83-67 with 6:47 to play.
Trevon Brazile, the Razorbacks’ leading rebounder and one of their top scorers, had just five points in a limited role. He picked up two fouls in the first six minutes and didn’t return until the start of the second half with Arkansas trailing 49-41.
Brazile, the reigning SEC player of the week, had been on a tear over his previous five games. The senior forward averaged 17.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals during that span while shooting 66.7% from beyond the arc.
Houston used a 21-2 run midway through the first half to grab a 40-20 lead. Flemings and Isiah Harwell contributed six points apiece in the spurt.
The schools played one another at least twice each year from 1975-76 through the 1990-91 season as Southwest Conference rivals.
Up next
Houston hosts Middle Tennessee on Dec. 29.
Arkansas hosts James Madison on Dec. 29.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball