The Arkansas Razorbacks (15-16, 6-12) left Coleman Coliseum with a bitter taste in their mouth after dropping a 92-88 heartbreaker to the Alabama Crimson Tide (21-10, 13-5 SEC) in overtime Saturday.
Arkansas' loss itself was bad enough, as the Razorbacks led by as many as 15 points and did not give up the lead during the entirety of regulation, but the way the final sequences in the second half played out had fans fuming and the coaching staff at a loss.
WATCH: Musselman, Brazile postgame - No. 16 Alabama 92, Arkansas 88
The Crimson Tide trailed late in the second half 74-68 when a three from transfer forward Grant Nelson cut the deficit to just three. Alabama head coach Nate Oats called a timeout with 0:59 remaining to set up his defense, while Razorback head coach Eric Musselman instructed his offense.
Arkansas milked the clock as much as possible and fed the ball inside to big man Makhi Mitchell, who had another strong performance for the Razorbacks, finishing with 18 points, five rebounds, four blocks and he drew three fouls. The big man went up for a dunk, got hit in the face, but there was no whistle. He missed the dunk and guard Alabama Latrell Wrightsell Jr. made a three to tie the game with just 0:21 remaining.
In the final possession of regulation, Razorback guard Khalif Battle ran down the clock, but opted for a contested step-back three for the win. It missed, and the game moved to overtime.
There were opportunities for Arkansas to win the game in spite of the no call. The Razorbacks could have played better defense to prevent the three-pointer to tie, or they could've had a more successful final possession in regulation.
The team even had a whole overtime period to try and win the game. Unfortunately, though, most people will be thinking about the no call. Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile was one of them.
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"I mean obviously their 3-point shooting is dangerous, so I feel like (Makhi) got fouled too, that was a big point in the game," Brazile said. "When that was a no call that killed us, I felt like."
Mitchell, a 79.0% free throw shooter on the season, had made four consecutive free throws in the game leading up to what could have been his fifth and sixth attempts of the second half. Making just one of those would have given the Razorbacks a two-possession lead with a much higher likelihood of winning the game.
Musselman acknowledged the call, but opted not to be overly critical to avoid paying a fine.
"That hasn’t happened for us all season long quite frankly," Musselman said. "I saw the body contact … But it’s not worth commenting on, it’s not worth sending things in [to the SEC office]. Alabama beat us, no excuses. But there was contact with Khi. What are they going to tell us? That after reviewing it we’ll find out tomorrow that it was missed. But it doesn’t change the outcome of the game."
Up next, the Razorbacks are set to face the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
