Razorbacks win battle of runs against Missouri, 65-63
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Arkansas watched a big lead slip away but outscored Missouri 12-4 the final 4 minutes and 35 seconds to squeak out a 65-63 win in front of 18,297 Saturday night in Bud Walton Arena.
Missouri (12-5, 2-2 SEC) went on a 21-4 run over a span of 7 minutes and 39 seconds in the second half, down to the 4:43 mark, to erase an 11-point deficit and take a 6-point lead, 59-53. The Razorbacks (12-5, 2-3 SEC) led by as many as 18 points (twice) in the game, starting with a 28-10 lead with 6:11 left in the first half. That was due to a 27-5 Razorback run over 10 minutes and 14 seconds.
“We just had to stay together. We got one more stop at the end,” Arkansas guard Daryl Macon said after the game. “They went on a run. They didn’t go on a run the whole game, so we knew it was coming at some point in time. Their run came at the perfect time.”
The Razorbacks chipped away at Missouri’s late 6-point lead, thanks in large to a pair of huge charging calls against the Tigers with 1:59 to play and 1:13 to play. The last score of the game came on a possession after the second charge. Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford saw his alley-oop attempt on a dish from Macon rattle home with 57 seconds left to give the Hogs a 65-63 lead. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw attempt. Arkansas won the battle in the paint 34-14.
“It is hard to guard me, and I’ve been doing pick-and-roll all my life,” Gafford said. “When he threw the lob, I just had to go get it…We were pretty much un-guardable on the inside, so we had to pretty much make it a game plan to get the ball inside.”
Each team missed 3-point attempts on the ensuing possessions, and then the Tigers had a chance at the win on the final possession with 11 seconds left. After a timeout, the Tigers were scrambling for a shot. And then with 2 seconds left Jordan Geist’s 3-point attempt in front of the Missouri bench rattled out. Gafford pulled down the rebound, and the Hogs escaped with a 65-63 win.
“We were fortunate to come out on top. Had a lot of momentum in the first half, but we know in basketball the game is a 40-minute game,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “In that last two minutes, I saw our defense really rise to the occasion and make it difficult for Missouri to score.”
The first half was defined by big runs for each team. Arkansas got off to what has become an anticipated slow start, trailing Missouri 5-1 the first 3 minutes and 35 seconds, but the Razorbacks warmed up quickly and proceeded to go on the 27-5 run.
For 5 minutes and 10 seconds, all the way to the 14-second mark of the first half, Missouri answered Arkansas’ run with a 16-3 spurt to take the lead all the way down to 6 points on a 3-pointer by Kassius Robertson. Darious Hall, who got his first start, knocked down a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left to make it 35-28 at the half.
“I just think settling down, settling down, relaxing. Often times, it’s hard to duplicate things if you don’t see it in practice,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said. “They were probably a tougher team at that point as far as attacking the rim. I don’t think we were very aggressive.”
Gafford led the Razorbacks with 15 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes of action. The Hogs were 23 of 50 from the floor (46 percent), 11 of 27 from beyond the arc (40.7 percent) and 12 of 23 from the free throw line (52.2 percent).
Robertson was fantastic for the Tigers, going for 26 points and 8 rebounds in 39 minutes with a 6 of 11 showing from 3-point range. For the game, Mizzou was 21 of 50 on field goals (42 percent), 11 of 29 from downtown (37.9 percent) and 10 of 14 from the line (71.4 percent).
After a rough start, Arkansas was 12 of 23 from the floor in the first half (52.2 percent), and in his first start Hall scored 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting and also pulled down 4 rebounds in 13 minutes of action in the first half. The Tigers were just 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) but had 4 more makes from 3-point range and got off 6 more shots. Robertson led all scorers with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting at the half.
SECOND HALF RUNDOWN
It was a 12-point lead for the Hogs at the first media break of the second half with 15:59 to play, 43-31. Carrying over from Hall’s free throws at the end of the first half, it was a 10-3 run for the Hogs over a span of 1 minute and 36 seconds with Jaylen Barford scoring all 8 of Arkansas’ second half points.
Anton Beard finally broke Arkansas' scoring drought from the field on a 3-pointer from the baseline with 13:46 to play. Arkansas’ last bucket before that came on a 3-pointer from Barford with 18:25 remaining, a span of 4 minutes and 39 seconds. Missouri had clawed back with a 6-1 spurt to make it a 6-point game, but Beard’s 3-pointer made it 47-38 Razorbacks at the 13:46 mark.
Arkansas took a 9-point lead into the second media stoppage of the second half with 11:39 to go, 49-40, but the stoppage came on a charging foul against Macon. Despite not starting like he has for the other 16 games, it was Macon’s fourth foul of the game in 17 minutes of action at the time.
Starting with a dunk by Jeremiah Tilmon with 12:22 to play, Missouri went on 21-4 run to take a 6-point lead. A big 3-pointer from Robertson off an offensive rebound by Jordan Barnett made it a 1-point Arkansas lead with 7:34 to go. Then a pair of free throws by Kevin Puryear gave the Tigers the lead, 54-53 with 7:15 to play. It was the first lead for Missouri since Barford tied the game at 5-5 with 16:04 to play in the first half. Another 3-pointer and a layup with 4:43 left made it a 6-point game, 59-53 for Mizzou. The run lasted 7 minutes and 39 seconds.
Jeremiah Porter fouled out for Missouri with 1:37 to play on a put-back attempt from Arkansas' Dustin Thomas. Thomas went 1 of 2 from the line to tie the game at 63-63. Missouri was then hit with a pair of offensive fouls off screens, one at the 1:59 mark and the other at the 1:13 second mark. The first one came when Puryear was trying to screen Macon, and the next one came with Tilmon trying to screen Anton Beard. The possession after the second one resulted in a dunk by Gafford that rattled home, but he missed the and-1 free throw and the Hogs came away with a 2-point lead, 65-63 with 57 seconds to play. That was the last bucket of the game.
After a missed 3-pointer by Barnett with 42 seconds left, Macon missed on the other end on an air ball. Martin called for timeout with 13 seconds left. After the timeout, scrambling for a shot with 2 seconds left, Geist’s 3-point attempt in front of the Missouri bench rattled out with 2 seconds left, Gafford pulled down the rebound and the Hogs escaped with a 65-63 win.
FIRST HALF RUNDOWN
Missouri got off to a 5-1 start, thanks in large to a 1 of 4 start from the foul line for Arkansas. But a dunk by Gafford and a nice reverse layup from Baford right before the first media timeout with 15:38 left made it a 5-5 game.
Macon entered the game at the 15:38 mark and helped Arkansas improve the run to 17-2 and move them ahead by 11 with 10:53 to play in the first half. The run started on Gafford’s dunk with 16:25 remaining and lasted 5 minutes and 32 seconds until the 10:53 mark on a layup by Darious Hall.
Despite being interrupted by a 3-pointer by Robertson with 10:28 to play, the run continued for Arkansas as the Hogs were on a 27-5 streak over a span of 10 minutes and 14 seconds when Gafford put Arkansas up by 18 points, 28-10, on a layup with 16:11 to play in the half. Arkansas went 9 of 14 from the floor during that stretch.
The Tigers answered with a 16-3 run to take the lead all the way down to just 6 points with 14 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by Robertson over a span of 5 minutes and 10 seconds. Hall ended the half on a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left to get the lead out to 8 points at halftime, 36-28.
ODDS & ENDS
Hall drew his first start as a Razorback. For the first time this season, Macon did not start the game. After ending a streak of starts last game, Thomas returned to the starting lineup. Adrio Bailey started the last game after starting earlier in the season but did not start this one. Beard, Barford and Gafford are regarded as regular starters who also started this game.
“I thought he played well. I thought he responded well,” Anderson said of Macon. “I thought Darious played well for us, too. I have 8 to 9 starters.”
UP NEXT...
Up next, Arkansas heads to Gainesville on Wednesday, Jan. 17 to take on the Florida Gators (12-5, 4-1 SEC).