After trailing for the first 25:37 of the game, the No. 13 Arkansas Razorbacks benefitted from a 21-point second half from Ricky Council IV and a breakout game from freshman Joseph Pinion in a 74-68 win over No. 20 Missouri on Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena.
Council led all scorers in the game with 25 points and added seven rebounds, while Pinion earned career-highs with 27 minutes and 13 points.
Arkansas dominated Missouri on the boards, out-rebounding the Tigers 40-23. The trio of Kamani Johnson, Makhi Mitchell and Jordan Walsh nearly combined for just as many rebounds at the Tigers had in the entire game (22).
After shooting 35.7% from the field in the second half, Arkansas improved that number to 48.1% for the game after making 61.5% of its shots in the final 20 minutes.
Here's a full recap of Wednesday's victory for the Razorbacks.
The start of the game was all Missouri, as the Tigers led 10-5 at the first media timeout. Kobe Brown racked up four points, but two fouls kept him out for the majority of the first half.
Arkansas attempted four 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game and it didn't connect on any. Council finally hit on a deep shot at the 14:10 mark to trim the Missouri lead to six.
By the under-12 media timeout, Missouri was allowing little-to-nothing in the paint. Just four of Arkansas' first 12 shots came in the paint, and only two of those fell, resulting in a 16-8 deficit.
The Tigers nailed a jumper out of the break and a three from DeAndre Gholston made it a 13-point lead for Missouri. Following a turnover on the inbounds pass, Missouri extended its lead to 24-8.
Walsh gave Arkansas life with a midrange jumper and a put-back layup — the former ended a 4:55 scoring drought. The Hogs managed to trim the Missouri lead to 11 at the under-8 timeout.
A pair of offensive boards and put-backs from Kamani Johnson and Joseph Pinion helped Arkansas hang around over the next four minutes, but the deficit remained the same with 4 minutes remaining in the first half.
Johnson converted a 3-point play with 1:10 left in the half to cut the Missouri lead to 10. Pinion drained a three on the next possession and the Arkansas fans erupted, resulting in a timeout for the Tigers with just under 20 seconds to play. Neither team could hit another shot before the break, and Missouri took a 34-27 lead into the locker room.
Arkansas started the second half on a 10-4 run and a corner three from Pinion sparked the crowd and forced a timeout for Missouri, who led 38-37 with 16:49 to go in the game.
Nick Honor hit a deep shot out of the under-16 break to put Missouri back up by five. Back-to-back buckets, including a slam from Council, brought Arkansas within one. Following a block from Mitchell, Davis hit a transition layup to put the Hogs ahead 43-42 — their first lead of the game.
The next Arkansas possession resulted in a Pinion three, a Missouri timeout and a very loud Hog call in Bud Walton Arena.
By the under-12 break, Arkansas led 46-44 and Pinion led all scorers with 13 points.
Arkansas went on a 10-2 run out of the timeout, with five points coming from Council to put the Hogs ahead by eight. By the under-8 timeout, Council had 10 points in the second half alone, and a game-high 14.
A wide open dunk from Brown and a three from Tre Gomillion sandwiched a council jumper to bring Missouri within five and make it a 66-61 Arkansas lead with 3:44 to go.
Sean East II hit a driving layup with just over two minutes to go to trim the Arkansas lead to four. Following a silly turnover, Davis then fouled on the other end to give Honor two freebies, and he hit one to make it a 3-point game with 27 seconds remaining.
Council was intentionally fouled and hit his two shots, but the Hogs didn't get back on defense quick enough and allowed an open layup that made it 71-68 with just over 20 seconds to play.
Two more free throws from Council got the job done this time, as Missouri was unsuccessful on the ensuing possession, putting the writing on the wall for a 74-68 loss for the Tigers.
Arkansas will hit the hardwood again Saturday when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to face the No. 22 Auburn Tigers at 7:30 p.m. CT inside Neville Arena. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
