Playing what could be his final game inside Bud Walton Arena, Daniel Gafford turned in a monstrous performance to lift Arkansas to critical win over Alabama on Saturday.
The projected first-round pick finished with 29 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in the Razorbacks' 82-70 victory. He is the first Arkansas player to reach those marks since Charles Balentine against SMU in 1985, according to HogStats.com
"What a performance by Daniel," head coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought he was as playing on another stratosphere it seemed like."
After having to fight through slow starts in recent games, the Razorbacks had no such struggles on Saturday night. Arkansas hit four of its first seven jumpers and led 8-6 at the first media timeout, with Gafford scoring six points.
Alabama's offense was just as efficient early, shooting 57.1 percent in the first eight minutes of the game to make it a 17-17 tie. The Crimson Tide did have three turnovers in that span, though, and Arkansas took advantage with seven points off of those turnovers.
Adrio Bailey hit a couple of free throws out of the break before Alabama started a 9-0 run, creating the half’s biggest lead. A Gafford slam put a stop to it and an Isaiah Joe jumper sparked a quick Arkansas spurt that pulled the Razorbacks back into the game.
Alabama didn’t score for over five minutes late in the half, marking the second second time in as many games Arkansas forced a scoring drought of five-plus minutes.
Joe made a layup with 5:17 left in the half that gave Arkansas a 27-26 lead. The two teams exchanged baskets for the remainder of the half, albeit at a much cooler pace than the opening minutes of the game.
At about the three-minute mark, Gafford hauled in rebound No. 10. That rebound gave him a double-double in just 14 minutes of playing time.
Keyshawn Embrey-Simpson hit a three in the final minute to create some space before the half and gave Arkansas a 36-31 lead heading into the locker room.
Gafford had 12 points and 11 boards at the half, while Desi Sills added eight points with a pair of three-pointers.
Arkansas shot just 10 of 28 after its blistering start and shot 40 percent total in the first 20 minutes. It was a similar story for Alabama, which dipped to 41.4 percent after a hot start. The Tide did have eight different players score and four players with at least five points.
The Razorbacks opened the second half by extending its lead to nine with four quick points, highlighted by a Gafford crossover that ended with a eurostep finish.
"I know that's not going to happen again in a million years probably, but I mean, I didn't see anybody I could pass it to and I didn't want to turn the ball over," Gafford said with a smile. "When I crossed over on Herbert (Jones), the lane was just wide open."
Arkansas’ lead grew to double digits later with a Joe three ball and Reggie Chaney putback. That forced Alabama coach Avery Johnson into a timeout with the Razorbacks up 49-37 with 12:41 left to play.
Utilizing a number of key plays, the Razorbacks were able to keep the Tide at bay down the stretch. Back-to-back Mason Jones threes minimized the impact of a quick flurry of Alabama points inside the 10-minute mark.
Three minutes later, Sills hit his third three-pointer and Gafford sandwiched a Tevin Mack three with a pair of highlight-reel slams.
The Gafford takeover continued, as he finished a Jalen Harris lob with a tap-in and drew the foul. He then hit a short post jumper ahead of the under-four timeout, giving Arkansas a 69-57 lead. Somewhere in between, he grabbed a career-high 15th rebound.
With three minutes left in the game, Joe put a dagger in Alabama’s hopes with a converted four point play from the deep corner. Joe finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six steals.
The icing on the cake came by way of a long Jonathon Holmes three to put Arkansas over 80 points for the second straight game. Arkansas’ win was its fifth consecutive over Alabama and moved the Hogs to 4-0 over an Avery Johnson-coached Tide team.
Gafford shot an efficient 11 of 17 and had a plus/minus of plus-20. Ten different Razorbacks found the scoring column as the team shot 44.6 percent for the game and 50 percent in the second half. He was also 7 of 9 at the free throw line, his best performance at the stripe since hitting 10 of 12 against Vanderbilt on Feb. 5.
Arkansas captured the No. 9 seed for next week's SEC Tournament, which matches them up with No. 8 seed Florida. That game tips off at noon Thursday, with the winner getting a shot at regular-season champion LSU.
BOX SCORE
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