FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (12-7, 1-5 SEC) finally earned a win in Southeastern Conference play Wednesday night with a 68-65 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs (14-5, 2-4 SEC) behind late heroics from Adou Thiero.
Arkansas did most of it damage on offense via the free throw line, as the Razorbacks were 29-for-34 at the charity stripe in the game. The Hogs shot 18-for-58 from the field and 3-for-23 from three against the Bulldogs, who Arkansas out-rebounded by 10. The Razorbacks had 18 offensive rebounds and a season-high 33 second chance points.
BOX SCORE: Arkansas 68, Georgia 65
Thiero scored 17 points, seven of which came at the charity stripe, and had 11 points to make it a double-double performance. Freshman Karter Knox scored 13 points and added six rebounds of his own.
Social media reactions below game recap...
News broke prior to the game that freshman point guard Boogie Fland underwent successful thumb surgery Wednesday and he will be out for an indefinite period of time. The effects of absence were felt early, as a pair of Thiero transition layups were the only offense going by the under-16 minute media timeout.
Forward Trevon Brazile brought a brief spark of energy, but Georgia scored eight points in a row to gain a 15-6 lead. Johnell Davis provided the Razorbacks with four points over the next minute of play, but the Bulldogs began to rain threes soon after to take a 23-12 lead and trigger a John Calipari timeout with 7:45 left in the first half.
The best way to describe the end of the first half for Arkansas is SEC Network color analyst Jimmy Dykes saying "the crowd is completely out of this game. It's almost like there's no one in here."
While Arkansas failed to hit a field goal for a stretch of nearly six minutes, forward Zvonimir Ivisic hit the team's first 3-pointer with five seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to 38-26 at the break. That shot put the Hogs' three total to 1-for-11 as a team in the first half.
Davis knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game to cut the Georgia lead to 11 early in the second half. Just when the Razorbacks made it a nine-point game, the Bulldogs scored six straight to make the lead double digits (46-31).
The Bud Walton Arena crowd rose to its feet following a steal from Davis that led to a jumper from Jonas Aidoo that cut the Georgia lead to seven. After Thiero knocked down the Hogs' 17th and 18th free throws of the game, the Bulldogs called a timeout with the crowd roaring and the Hogs down by just five points, 52-47.
Knox grabbed a rebound and laid in a basket backwards while drawing a foul at the 7:51 mark. Knox's made free throw cut the Georgia lead to 54-53, the closest the game had been since there were more than 14 minute left in the first half.
Knox knocked down two more free throws at the 4:40 mark to give Arkansas its first lead of the game, 59-58. The teams traded blows, and the Hogs benefited from four Georgia missed free throws in a row, to result in a 63-63 game when the Bulldogs called for a timeout with 1:03 remaining in regulation.
Just 10 seconds after play resumed, Davis earned a critical steal to give Arkansas the ball and the Hogs took the lead on a jump shot from Thiero with 30 seconds left.
Again it was Thiero saving the day, as he grabbed a rebound and drew a foul with 1.8 seconds left on the clock and the game tied at 65-65. He hit the first free throw, missed the second, grabbed his own rebound and then hit a layup at the buzzer to make it a 3-point win.
Up next, the Razorbacks will host the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday evening at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
Below are media and fan reactions from throughout Wednesday night's game...
Social Media Reactions
