Arkansas falls to lowly Missouri Saturday in Columbia, 83-78
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Arkansas trailed by as many as 15 points and lost to the worst team in the SEC in Missouri Saturday in Mizzou Arena, 83-78.
The Razorbacks (17-6, 6-4 SEC) were on a 5-game SEC winning streak with an RPI of 28. Missouri (6-16, 1-9 SEC), RPI of 262, had only won 5 games all season and was riding a 13-game losing streak and a 14-game SEC losing streak dating to last season. It was the worst loss of the season for an Arkansas team that is fighting to get into the NCAA Tournament.
After coming in after halftime down 13, 47-34, Arkansas couldn't get the lead down to double digits until a 3-pointer by Anton Beard with 14:21 to play made it a 60-51 Tiger lead.
Arkansas made it into the bonus with 12:47 to play, down 60-53 as Missouri hadn't scored in 3 minutes and 5 seconds. An inside move by Moses Kingsley made it a 5-point game, 60-55 as part of a 10-0 Razorback run with 12:35 to go.
Dusty Hannahs made his first 3-pointer of the game with 8:53 remaining to make it a 2-point Missouri lead, 66-64, and the Hogs were on a 9-3 spurt. Arkansas made it a 10-3 run to pull it to 1 point, 66-65, but that was as close as they would get.
Missouri pushed it back out to 7 points with 5:21 to go with a 6-0 mini run, but Arkansas answered with a 7-2 stretch to make it 74-72 for MU with 3:22 left. The Tigers would hold on for a 5-point win, 83-78.
Jordan Barnett led the Tigers with 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting. The Tigers were a blistering 64.3 percent from the floor in the first half and cooled off to 40.7 percent in the second half. For the game, they were 27 of 53 for 50.9 percent.
Jaylen Barford led the Hogs with a season high of 23 points on 8 of 16 shooting. Arkansas was 26 of 51 from the floor (51 percent), 7 of 16 from 3-point range (43.8 percent) and 19 of 27 from the free throw line (70.4 percent). Arkansas lost the turnover battle 17-10 but won the turnover battle 33-27.
First Half Rundown
A 12-0 run Missouri run over a span of 4 minutes and 12 seconds gave the Tigers a 14-point lead, 24-10. Between a shot by Hannahs at the 12:25 mark until a cutting layup by Beard with 7:58 left, the Razorbacks went scoreless over a span of 4 minutes and 27 seconds. The stretch was highlighted negatively for Arkansas by an offensive foul by Macon and a technical foul on Moses Kingsley.
The Tigers would lead by as many as 15 points after a dunk by K.J. Walton with 5:58 left. Arkansas cut that all the way down to 6 points with 3:27 to play on a pair of free throws by Barford. Arkansas used a 7-0 run to get it down to 6, but a 13-4 finish for Mizzou got the lead back out to 13 at halftime, 47-34.
Cullen VanLeer led Missouri at halftime with 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting. The Tigers shot a blistering 61.5 percent from the floor in the first half on 16 of 26 shooting. They were 4 of 10 from 3-point range and 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) from the free throw line.
Macon led Arkansas with 11 points on 3 of 3 shooting. Arkansas shot well in the first half, too, but they didn't get the opportunities. They were 11 of 22 from the floor, which is 5 fewer buckets on 4 fewer attempts. Arkansas was 3 of 6 from 3-point range and 9 of 14 (64.3 percent) from the line.
Up next...
Up next, the Hogs host Vanderbilt (11-12, 4-6 SEC) Tuesday night at 7:30 (CST) in Bud Walton Arena.