Jannero Pargo scored half of his 30 points on 3-pointers Wednesday night to lead Arkansas to a 90-73 victory over Memphis at The Pyramid.
J.J. Sullinger added 19 points for the Razorbacks (8-4), while Brandon Dean finished with 16.
Dajuan Wagner led the Tigers (10-4) with 27 points, while Kelly Wise had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Scooter McFadgon added 15 points for Memphis.
The play at times got rough with mouthing and shoving from both sides. Both coaches rode the officials, and there was even an exchange between Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee and Sullinger that brought Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson to midcourt to protect his player.
There were 48 fouls in the game – 26 on Arkansas.
Arkansas went on a 13-4 run late in the first half and was up 42-32 at halftime.
Sullinger and Teddy Gipson, who finished with 13 points, combined for nine points in the run. Gipson’s 3-pointer with 2:07 left in the half gave Arkansas a 42-30 lead.
Wagner picked up his fourth foul with 16:32 to play. Then Antonio Burks, who helped Memphis get back in the game after Wagner’s departure, picked up his fourth leaving Memphis without a point guard.
Calipari played Wagner in spurts and went to a zone defense to push the Arkansas offense outside. The Tigers eventually fought their way back into a tie at 55-55 when Wagner connected on a 3-pointer with 9:45 to play.
But the Tigers could never overtake Arkansas because of Pargo. He had 10 of Arkansas’ next 19 points, including two 3-pointers as the Razorbacks went up 76-68.
Arkansas scored the game’s final 11 points.
