While Razorback fans didn't quite know what to expect from Eric Musselman's undefeated team heading on the road for the first time, the oddsmakers in Vegas certainly had a good idea of what was going to go down in Atlanta on Monday night. The line opened at -1.5 for Arkansas and the Hogs took the win 62-61 in overtime over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Arkansas is now a perfect 6-0 on the season and the win is the team's first true road win against a non-conference Power Five opponent since 2004.
The Razorbacks had 22 seconds left on the clock when Jacket center James Banks scored and put them up by one after a long, hard-fought battle in McCamish Pavilion.
The crowd was loud as Mason Jones worked the ball slowly down the court and Musselman was yelling the loudest, signaling for Jones to push into heavy zone pressure.
Jones and Isaiah Jones exchange passes and one fast move to create separation later, Jones hitches up a deep shot with plenty of strength.
The ball left his hand with 1.6 seconds on the game clock and it hit its mark with just .1 seconds remaining, sealing the win for the Hogs.
Jones's near buzzer-beater was just the second made shot in the entire overtime period. Over the five minutes, Joe missed three shots, two threes, Jimmy Whitt missed a jumper and Jones missed a one-and-one free throw.
Jones finished the night as the leading scorer with 24 on 7 for 12 shooting and three made three-pointers.He added six boards, three assists and five turnovers (a team high).
Arkansas could've used more sharpshooting from Joe who went 4 of 14 but he added a team-high nine rebounds and contributed just one turnover.
Desi Sills went one for three from deep, continuing his bad average from beyond arc, but found other ways to get to the basket and finished with 11 points, five boards and four assists.
After several hot games shooting in a row for Jimmy Whitt, the senior went cold, hitting just three of 12 shots for six points.
A huge reason why the Hogs couldn't create more separation from the Yellow Jackets despite several runs that created near 10-point leads, Reggie Chaney, Jeantal Cylla and Jalen Harris contributed nothing in the way of scoring. The burden fell on the usual shot makers and they ended up shooting 38.6%, 8% lower than the season average.
Jackets leading scorer Michael Devoe fouled out after 42 minutes with 12 points and six rebounds. Holding Devoe to just one three-point attempt all game was huge for the Razorbacks.
Big man Banks however did give Arkansas a lot of trouble, as expected, with Georgia Tech's significant height advantage. The Hogs were out-rebounded 45-30 with the Jackets cashing in with 12 second-chance points.
On the other hand, Arkansas's defense continued to force turnovers with 13 steals and 18 points off of turnovers.
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