No. 10 Arkansas routs North Dakota State in opener 76-58

(AP Photo/Michael Woods)

By ERIC W. BOLIN

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Trevon Brazile had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his debut with Arkansas, and the No. 10 Razorbacks beat North Dakota State 76-58 in the season opener for both teams Monday night.

Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, scored six straight points during an 11-0 run early in the second that gave Arkansas a 16-point lead with 15 minutes left.

Wichita State transfer Ricky Council was the only other Arkansas player to score during the run. He led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.

Council is one of five players on the Arkansas roster who arrived via the transfer portal in the offseason. Another six players are freshmen, including one of the nation's top recruits, Nick Smith Jr., who didn't play for precautionary reasons due to a knee injury.

Arkansas guard Devo Davis, one of two returning scholarship players from last year's Elite Eight team, joined Council and Brazile in scoring double figures with 18 points.

Grant Nelson and Boden Skunberg had 17 points apiece to lead North Dakota State.

BIG PICTURE

Arkansas' talent level was too much for its Summit League opponent, even without Smith. Arkansas' first test against a power-conference team won't come until Nov. 21 at the Maui Invitational.

UP NEXT

Arkansas: Hosts Fordham on Friday.

North Dakota State: Travels to No. 5 Kansas on Thursday.

---

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Updated November 7, 2022