Arkansas relied on a freshman point guard and a postgraduate wide receiver for its biggest basketball victory of the season.
Courtney Fortson had 12 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to help the Razorbacks hand No. 4 Oklahoma its first loss, 96-88 on Tuesday night.
The freshman is the second-leading scorer, third-leading rebounder and top playmaker for Arkansas (10-1), which has won eight straight games.
“I thought Fortson was sensational the way he controlled the game,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. “He understands pace. He understands who’s going.”
Then there’s Marcus Monk, who had 12 points in his third game since joining the basketball team. The 6-foot-6 Monk, a former wide receiver for the Razorbacks, has used up his football eligibility and struggled to gain a foothold in the NFL. He’s been practicing with the team for less than two weeks this season, while working toward a second bachelor’s degree.
coach John Pelphrey said. “There’s no words that can describe what we saw tonight. That was one of the best performances that I’ve ever seen.”
In other games involving ranked teams on Tuesday, it was: No. 6 Wake Forest 83, Radford 61; Illinois 71, No. 9 Purdue 67 in overtime; No. 13 Syracuse 100, Seton Hall 76; No. 20 Clemson 98, South Carolina 87; and No. 25 Butler 72, Alabama-Birmingham 68.
Michael Washington had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Arkansas and held his own against Oklahoma All-America Blake Griffin. When the junior found himself in foul trouble, Monk stepped in and did a solid job against Griffin.
“I’ve still got a long way to go and a lot to learn,” said Monk, who also played basketball for Arkansas in 2004-05. “But I’m trying to soak it all in.”
Arkansas led by 25 in the second half but the Sooners (12-1) closed to 81-77. Washington scored Arkansas’ next seven points and the Hogs held on.
“It shows that youth doesn’t matter, talent does,” said Capel, a member of the 1994 Duke team that lost to Arkansas in the NCAA title game. “John has done a good job getting them to play hard and win.”
Willie Warren scored 35 points for the Sooners, the freshman’s second straight 30-point game. Griffin had 21 points and 13 rebounds.
No. 6 Wake Forest 83, Radford 61
11 of his 19 points in the second half as the Demon Deacons (12-0) shook off a sluggish start. Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu added 18 points and 10 rebounds and James Johnson had 12 points and 12 boards for Wake Forest, which outscored Radford 36-13 over the final 14 minutes.
Artsiom Parakhouski had 15 points and 16 rebounds to lead the visiting Highlanders (4-9), who remained winless against nonconference teams from Division I and fell to 0-15 against Atlantic Coast Conference schools.
Illinois 71, No. 9 Purdue 67, OT
Mike Tisdale scored 18 points for the Fighting Illini (13-1), who won their seventh straight with the road win in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
E’Twaun Moore scored 17 points and JaJuan Johnson had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Boilermakers (11-3), who had won six in a row.
Illinois led 56-55 when Johnson was fouled with 1.9 seconds left in regulation. He made the first free throw, but missed the second. Purdue finished 15-of-27 from the line.
No. 13 Syracuse 100, Seton Hall 76
Andy Rautins was 7-of-10 from 3-point range and scored 26 points and Eric Devendorf was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and had 20 points for the Orange (13-1), who have won four straight since a last-second loss to Cleveland State two weeks ago.
th teams while Seton Hall was 2-for-27.
Jeremy Hazell had 23 points for the visiting Pirates (9-4), who played without coach Bobby Gonzalez, who was suspended one conference game for his actions in the final regular-season game of 2007-08.
No. 20 Clemson 98, South Carolina 87
Terrence Oglesby had six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 25 points for the visiting Tigers (13-0), who have opened the season with 13 straight wins for the second time in three seasons.
Devan Downey had a career-high 37 points for the Gamecocks (9-2), who have lost five straight to their instate rival.
No. 25 Butler 72, UAB 68
Freshman Shelvin Mack made five 3-pointers in the first 7 minutes of the second half to match his career high of 22 points and the Bulldogs (11-1) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit.
Robert Vaden, an Indianapolis native and former player at Indiana University, led the Blazers (8-5) with 23 points. UAB coach Mike Davis made his first appearance in Indiana since resigning as coach of the Hoosiers after the 2005-06 season.
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