FAYETTEVILLE — On the 30-year anniversary of Bud Walton Arena’s first game, the Arkansas Razorbacks recorded an all-time memorable home victory Wednesday.
Arkansas, which fell from the Associated Press Top 25 poll earlier in the week, defeated seventh-ranked Duke 80-75 in front of a rowdy, sold-out crowd. The announced attendance of 20,344 was the largest in arena history.
Students rushed the court as the final buzzer sounded at 10:46 p.m.
The game was played as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge and was the Blue Devils’ first played in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks improved to 16-9 in games against top-10 teams at the arena, including 4-2 under fifth-year coach Eric Musselman, who won his 100th game with the program.
Jeremiah Davenport’s three-pointer with 24 seconds remaining in the first half gave Arkansas a 33-32 halftime lead and the Razorbacks never trailed again.
Arkansas (5-3) used an 11-2 run early in the second half to seemingly take control of the game. The Razorbacks capped the run with a Khalif Battle layup that gave them a 55-45 lead with 11:09 remaining.
The Arkansas lead grew to as many as 14 points on multiple occasions. Makhi Mitchell’s up-and-under layup with 6:31 remaining put the Razorbacks ahead 67-53.
Duke (5-2) made Arkansas earn it late with tough full-court pressure. The Blue Devils used a 6-0 run during a 26-second span to pull within 75-71 on Jeremy Roach’s free throw with 46 seconds remaining.
El Ellis made a pair of free throws to put the Razorbacks ahead 77-71 with 37 seconds to play. Kyle Filipowski’s put back with 27 seconds left cut the lead to 77-73.
Ellis made the back end of two free throws with 24 seconds left to give Arkansas a 78-73 lead, but Filipowski made both free throws with 17 seconds left to make it a single-possession game at 78-75.
Davonte Davis made 1 of 2 free throws with 15 seconds remaining to give the Razorbacks a 79-75 lead. Caleb Foster missed a three-pointer on the other end and Battle made 1 of 2 throws with 5 seconds remaining to set the final score.
An ear-splitting noise level appeared to at times rattle the Blue Devils, who were playing their first road game. Duke was 24 of 67 from the floor, 6 of 22 from three-point range and 21 of 31 from the free-throw line.
Arkansas shot 26 of 53 from the floor, 9 of 22 from three-point range and 19 of 30 from the free-throw line. The Razorbacks held a 40-34 rebounding advantage.
Arkansas played the game without leading scorer Tramon Mark (18.4 points per game), who injured his back during a game against North Carolina last Friday at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
The Razorbacks rebounded from consecutive losses to Memphis and North Carolina at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Arkansas entered the game with losses in three of its previous four games, and its only win during that time was in double overtime against Stanford.
North Carolina-Greensboro won in the Razorbacks’ most recent home game to snap a 38-game home win streak by Arkansas in the nonconference.
Battle led the Razorbacks with 21 points off the bench. Trevon Brazile scored 19 points and recorded 11 rebounds.
Filipowski scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds for Duke. Roach added 22 points.
Arkansas is scheduled to play again Monday at home against Furman.