Razorbacks pull game out of fire after poor stretch in second half against Winthrop

Arkansas avoids stunner against Eagles with late run

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari during the first half against the Winthrop Eagles at Bud Walton Arena | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For those expecting some relatively easy Tuesday night, Arkansas' 84-83 win over Winthrop was hardly anything close to that.

It featured a wild finish, players on both teams tumbling to the floor in what never turned into anything other than some shoving and a takedown topping off a wild comeback by the Razorbacks. It avoided a complete wreck.

"We had 19 guys on the court," coach John Calipari said. "They had 17 guys on the court. It's not what you want to see for an ending, but what would have been worse if it was only us, or it was a technical, they shoot the free throws, now you lose the game."

Arkansas finished the game on a 6-0 run in the final 62 seconds with Nick Pringle's go-ahead layup with 11.9 seconds left to avoid the massive upset. Kenpom gave the Eagles just a 7% chance to win the game pregame.

Here are the four instant takeaways,

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Meleek Thomas (1) drive to the basket against Winthrop Eagles guard Kody Clouet (11) during the first half at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Meleek Thomas bails out Hogs:

For most of the second half as Winthrop continued to rain down threes, Arkansas tasked Meleek Thomas to singlehandedly prevent the upset and without much help from his teammates and for most of the night, it looked like it would be in vain.

Thomas' 26 points on 10-for-20 from the field including 3-for-8 from beyond the arc are a new a career-high in his fledgling college career. In all five games, Thomas has scored at least 15 points.

"I don't have a whole lot of guys that can do what he does," Calipari said. "Just go get baskets in bunches. If I did, I'd let them do it."

He also came up with a critical steal to set up the runout for the go-ahead layup.

Scuffle nearly costs Hogs game:

After making the go-ahead layup, Pringle got into a scuffle with center Logan Duncomb. Both teams came off the bench to defend their respective sides, something that coach Calipari pointed as the difference in the final stages of the game. If either team stays put, they're likely awarded two free throws and the ball with a chance to put the game on ice.

"It was just all in the moment," Pringle said. "Definitely apologized to my team going back to the huddle. Can’t have those in bigger games. So just live and learn from it, and that’s all we can do right now."

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Nick Pringle (23) is moved to the bench after an altercation as wing Billy Richmond III (24) talks to head coach John Calipari during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 84-83. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

After all the technical fouls offset, both DJ Wagner and Isaiah Sealy were ejected from the game for leaving the bench.

Arkansas shuffles starting lineup:

After mentioning wanting to play two bigs together after last Tuesday's win against Central Arkansas, Calipari finally went through and changed his starting lineup.

Both Malique Ewin and Trevon Brazile took the floor for the opening tip.

Calipari kept the same theme running throughout the first half, keeping two out of his three frontcourt players in the game at a time, but swapping Pringle for Ewin less than 5 minutes into the game. Ewin did not play for the rest of the first half.

The Florida State transfer continues his slow start in an Arkansas uniform. In five games, Ewin's averaged 4.8 points per game after averaging nearly 15 with the Seminoles.

Brazile continued his return to form, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first half with eight rebounds.

Winthrop rains down threes on Arkansas:

It took a historic night of three-point volume to nearly pull off the upset. The 15-for-31 as a team is the most a team hit against the Hogs since Northern Iowa hit 17 in 2021.

Kareem Rozier scored a team-high 23 points on 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. Kody Clouet also had 16 points with four threes.

Arkansas finishes a four-game homestand against Jackson State 7 p.m. Friday.

The game will be streamed on SEC+.