Another top five ranking for Diamond Hogs
Arkansas filling defensive needs
Big Red Recruiting Board, 2018
Commitment Analysis: Courtre Alexander
It took two overtimes, but Daryl Macon made some clutch shots down the stretch to give the Razorbacks their first true road win of the season, 80-77 over Georgia Tuesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens.
After failing to score a single point in the first half and only getting 9 in the second, Macon scored 16 in the overtime periods, including 11 points in the second and final overtime alone. The senior guard went 4 of 4 from 3-point range in OT with three of them coming from beyond NBA range in the final period.
His final 3-pointer gave Arkansas a 2-point lead with 1:05 to play, and then UGA star Yante Maten went 1 of 2 from the free throw line with 41 seconds left to make it a 1-point game, 78-77. Arkansas' Jaylen Barford missed on the other end with 14 seconds left, but Trey Thompson blocked Maton inside on the ensuing possession. Maten pulled down the rebound but stepped out of bounds, and the ball went over to Arkansas (14-6, 4-4 SEC) with 2 seconds left. Hightower fouled Macon on the inbounds play with 1.2 seconds left, and he knocked down both free throws to give the Hogs the win.
Macon finished with 25 points, due in large to a 5 of 10 showing from 3-point range and going 6 of 6 from the free throw line. On his 22nd birthday, Barford scored 24 points on 10 of 20 shooting. Barford carried the Hogs for most of the game before Macon warmed up after coming off the bench for the third time this season.
The Razorbacks were 29 of 60 from the floor (48.3 percent), 11 of 23 from 3-point range (47.8 percent) and 11 of 14 from the foul line (78.6 percent). Arkansas was out-rebounded 38-28 and shot a dozen fewer free throws. The difference was that Arkansas shot the ball better from the floor, from 3-point range and at the free throw line. They made five more buckets and had a 23-16 advantage in points off turnovers, despite winning that category just 17-15.
Maton finished with 26 points for Georgia (12-7, 3-5 SEC) but missed three critical free throws in the second half and overtime to go 13 of 16 from the line. Maton made his first eight attempts. UGA was 24 of 55 from the floor (43.6 percent), 9 of 22 from 3-point range (40.9 percent) and 20 of 26 from the line (76.9 percent).
Arkansas freshman standout Daniel Gafford did not participate in either overtime period after going scoreless on 0 of 3 shooting with only 3 rebounds in 27 minutes in regulation. Gafford is coming off an SEC Freshman of the Week performance following his last two games. He was replaced in the lineup by Trey Thompson.
FIRST OVERTIME
Arkansas and Georgia entered the first overtime tied at 63-63. Georgia went just 2 of 5 on free throws, and both Macon and Barford had their shots blocked on each of Arkansas’ final two possessions. The first OT ended at 69-69.
SECOND HALF
Arkansas used a 10-4 second half run to take their first lead of the game, 38-37 with 16:21 to play off a Barford 3-pointer. Barford chipped in 8 of his 18 points at that time during the stretch. Carrying over from the first half’s 15-4 finish to close it to a 33-28 UGA lead, it was a 25-8 stretch for the Hogs over a span of 9 minutes and 45 seconds.
Arkansas took their first two-possession lead after an inside move by Dustin Thomas off the glass and a steal by Thomas that resulted in a transition layup from Barford. Barford made a driving layup with 7:45 to play that gave the Hogs a 6-point lead.
Barford's layup was the last field goal for Arkansas in a long time, which allowed the Bulldogs to slowly chip away at Arkansas lead before Maten tied the game at 58-58 on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:29 remaining.
By then, Georiga had already regained the lead, starting with a pull-up jumper from Juwan Parker with 3:33 to go to give the Dawgs a 60-58 lead. The Dawgs went on an 11-2 run for over 5 minutes and 23 seconds. The drought for Arkansas started at the 7:45 mark and ended when Macon hit a big 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:54 to play, a span of 5 minutes and 51 seconds.
With 46.4 seconds left after a rebound by Anton Beard, Arkansas coach Mike Anderson called timeout. Out of the timeout, Beard took his man one-on-one, dribbled behind his back and faded away from 10 feet out and sunk a rainbow to give Arkansas a 63-61 lead with 28 seconds remaining.
With 5.4 seconds remaining, Jordan Harris was fouled by Gafford while driving to the basket. He knocked down both free throws to tie it up at 63-63. It was the sixth tie of the game. Arkansas did not get a very good play in with a desperation heave from Barford that went high off the glass no good, and the game headed to overtime.
FIRST HALF
After Arkansas closed an early Georgia lead to 2 points, 7-9 with 13:46 to play in the first half, the Bulldogs proceeded to outscore the Razorbacks 15-2 over the next 5 minutes to take a 24-9 lead with 7:28 remaining in the half.
Down 16 points, 29-13, with 6:06 left in the half, Arkansas bounced back with a 15-2 run to make it a 3-point game, 31-28 for the Bulldogs with 1:33 remaining. The run lasted 4 minutes and 33 seconds. UGA scored the final 2 points on a pair of free throws from Maten with 2.9 seconds left, and the Hogs went into halftime down 5 points, 33-28.
Led by 10 points from Barford, the Hogs were 11 of 26 shooting in the first half, 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 3 of 5 from the free throw line. Maten led the Bulldogs with 10 points and 7 rebounds, and the home team was 12 of 29 from the floor (41.4 percent), 5 of 12 from downtown (41.7 percent) and 4 of 4 from the line.
UP NEXT...
Up next, Arkansas hosts Oklahoma State (13-7, 3-5 Big XII) as part of the Big XII/SEC Challenge.
