FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Nick Smith Jr. scored a career-high 26 points, Ricky Council IV added 22 and Arkansas rolled to a 97-65 victory over Georgia on Tuesday night.
Arkansas (19-9, 8-7 SEC) shot 64% from the floor, had 26 assists and scored 20 points from 13 Georgia turnovers. It was the second straight blowout loss for the Bulldogs (16-12, 6-9), who lost by 49 points at Alabama last Saturday.
Smith also made a career-best five 3-pointers and Council had three, and the pair were a combined 18-of-30 shooting from the field. Anthony Black added 10 points and matched a career high with eight assists.
Kario Oquendo was 7 of 18 from the floor and scored 20 points for Georgia. Jabri Abdur-Rahim added 12 points and Justin Hill had 10.
Arkansas opened the game on a 23-8 run on its way to a 20-point halftime lead. Council scored 14 points and Smith had eight as the Razorbacks shot 59% (19 of 32) from the field with 12 assists.
A 15-5 surge, capped by Makhel Mitchell’s dunk, to start the second half stretched the Razorbacks’ lead to 29 points with 15:37 left. They led by 34 with 3:52 left.
The Bulldogs have three games remaining in the regular season - two at home (Saturday against Missouri and Feb. 28 against Florida) and one on the road (March 4 against South Carolina).