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Arkansas never trailed in the second half of a tightly contested game against Oklahoma but pulled away in the end for a 92-83 win in the first round of the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore.
Arkansas outscored OU 13-6 the final 3 minutes and 42 seconds. While senior Daryl Macon led the Razorbacks with 27 points, freshman Daniel Gafford had the shot of the game on an 18-footer from the baseline with the shot clock winding down to give the Hogs an 85-81 lead with 1:03 remaining. OU scored just once more, and the Razorbacks made their final 7 points all at the free throw line for a 92-83 win.
Arkansas outplayed OU most of the game, but the Sooners just kept hanging around possession-after-possession, thanks in large to a 28-point effort from freshman guard Trae Young. Arkansas was tied twice in thee second half and never led by more than 6 points until the final 23 seconds. Their largest lead all day was a 10-point advantage, 32-22, with 8:35 to play in the second half.
Arkansas led for 36 minutes and 29 seconds compared to 58 seconds, all in the first half, for Oklahoma. From here, the Hogs will take on No. 9 North Carolina in the second round of the Victory Bracket at 2:30 (CST) Friday.
FINAL STATISTICS
En route to his 27 points, Macon was 7 of 13 from the floor, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range. He was also 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Jaylen Barford scored 19, Anton Beard had 14, and Gafford had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Arkansas was 28 of 65 from the floor (43.1 percent) and 9 of 18 from downtown after a 7 of 10 start in the first half. The Hogs really won the game at the free throw line, going 27 of 33 (81.8 percent), compared to a 15 of 20 effort from OU (75 percent).
Young led all scorers with 28 points on 8 of 18 shooting. The Sooners were 30 of 65 from the floor (46.2 percent) and 8 of 29 from 3-point range. Arkansas won the rebounding battle 41-35 and won the turnover battle 19-16. The Hogs had a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points and 20-13 on points off turnovers.
SECOND HALF RUNDOWN
Both teams got off to a slower start in the second half, and Arkansas was barely clinging to a 55-54 lead with the ball at the first media timeout with 15:56 to play in the game. Arkansas was being outscored 9-5 to open the second half.
Oklahoma got the lead down to a point on a 3-point play by Rashard Odomes with 16:21 to play, but the Hogs didn’t relinquish the lead and even pushed it out to 6 points, 60-54 on a 3-pointer by Macon to give him 17 points with 13:25 left. A 3-pointer by Jordan Shepherd made it a 3-point game, 62-59, with 11:39 to go at the under-12 media timeout.
Between the second and third media timeouts, the Hogs were tied twice but never relinquished the lead and were up 69-67, Oklahoma ball, with 7:57 to go in the game. After a blistering first half, Barford only had 2 points in the second half and Macon only had 3.
The tight game continued into the final media timeout with 3:42 remaining, 79-77 Arkansas with Barford set to go to the free throw line. Macon caught fire. After only scoring 3 points the first 12 and-a-half minutes of the second half, he scored 8 points in a 2-minute and 12-second span to give him a game-high 25 points.
Arkansas outscored OU 13-6 down the stretch. Up two points, 83-81, with the shot clock winding down, Gafford knocked down an 18-footer from the baseline to give the Hogs an 85-81 lead with 1:03 remaining. OU scored just once more and the Hogs made their final 7 points all at the free throw line for a 92-83 win.
FIRST HALF RUNDOWN
Arkansas had the pace going the way they wanted and jumped out to an 8-2 lead with 18:30 to play in the first half. But Oklahoma battled back and took their first lead, 13-11, on a 3-pointer by Trae Young with 16:05 left. Barford started out 2 of 2 from the 3-point line.
The Razorbacks were off to a 5 of 5 start from 3-point range, including 3 of 3 from Macon and 2 of 2 for Barford. Gafford did not enter the game until the 14:42 mark, but 2 minutes later he made his presence known with a thunderous dunk down the lane. Oklahoma already had 9 turnovers at this point. It was a 23-18 Hog lead at the second media timeout with 11:54 remaining in the first half.
OU battled back to cut the lead to 32-27 at the under-8 media timeout with exactly 8 minutes left. C.J. Jones broke Arkansas’ 3-point streak, but Macon was still a perfect 4 of 4 with 12 points. Young led OU with 13 on 4 of 5 shooting at that point.
After Arkansas took a 10-point lead, 32-22 on a 3-pointer by Macon, the Sooners battled back with 8-straight points to get the lead down to 32-30. Arkansas pushed it back out to 5, but OU took a 40-39 lead on a 3-pointer by James at the 4:38 mark. The Hogs were up 3, 43-40, after four quick points by Beard before the final media timeout with 3:17 to go before the half.
The Hogs outscored OU 7-4 the rest of the way and took a 50-45 lead into halftime.
FIRST HALF STATISTICS
The Hogs led 50-45 at halftime behind 14 points for Macon on 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range and 13 from Barford on 3 of 4 shooting from 3. Arkansas was 7 of 10 total from beyond the arc and 19 of 40 from the floor (47.5 percent). Beard came on strong late with 10 points for the Hogs.
Young led all scorers with 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting in a game-high 18 minutes of action. The Sooners were 17 of 33 from the floor (51.5 percent as the Hogs put up 7 more shots and made one more 3 (6 of 17). The Hogs had a 20-17 rebounding advantage and a 12-8 edge in turnovers. That ended up in a 17-5 lead on points off turnovers.
