Takeaways from Arkansas' 73-59 loss at Florida

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Arkansas dropped its fifth game in a row to fall to 4-9 in conference play with a 73-59 loss at Florida on Tuesday night.

Once again, the Razorbacks saw their opponent jump out to a double-digit lead only to claw back into it. They pulled within two points just seven minutes into the second, but the Gators used a 10-0 run to kill the comeback and bury Arkansas for good.

Florida shot 63.2 percent in the second half and kept Arkansas at bay with 15 made free throws in 17 attempts.

Mason Jones played all 40 minutes and led the Razorbacks with 21 points and five assists.

Arkansas will get its best shot at ending the losing streak at home against Missouri on Saturday, according to KenPom.com, which gives the Razorbacks a 78 percent chance of winning.

The game is set to tip at noon CT and will air on the SEC Network.

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Ethan Henderson makes first start

Henderson has seen his minutes rapidly increase in recent games as head coach Eric Musselman continues to look for ways to spread minutes with a thin bench. The sophomore made his first career start on Tuesday night and scored a career-high seven points before fouling out with 11 minutes of action.

Coming into the contest, Henderson had scored just seven career points in SEC play. His 12.7 minutes per game over the last three games are the highest of any three-game stretch of his career.

Henderson also grabbed three rebounds in the loss, including a career-high tying two offensive boards. Unfortunately, foul trouble limited him to just 11 minutes and he fouled out midway through the second half.

Bailey sparks the offense

Arkansas went through yet another long stretch without a field goal against Florida after having droughts of at least six minutes against Mississippi State and two against Tennessee.

The 9:19 without a field goal in the first half against the Gators was the longest of the bunch and caused the Razorbacks to fall behind 30-11 before Bailey sparked a turnaround.

The senior knocked down Arkansas’ first three of the game to end the drought and followed it up with a pair of dunks and a lay-in. Bailey scored nine consecutive points for the Razorbacks, creating a 15-3 Arkansas that had cut Florida’s lead to 33-26 by halftime.

Bailey finished with a season-high 16 points on a 50 percent shooting clip. His eight rebounds are his most since pulling down eight against Indiana on Dec. 29.

Arkansas fails to crack 60 points

Despite a noticeably slower pace than past seasons and substantial troubles finding consistent secondary scoring options, Arkansas had scored at least 60 points in every game up until tonight.

The biggest hit on the box score was the poor 3-of-16 three-point shooting. To make that stat even more surprising, Bailey and Jalen Harris accounted for all three deep balls. The rest of the team combined to shoot 0 of 9 from outside.

The Razorbacks also fell four points short of their free throw average, making just 12 shots from the stripe in 19 attempts.

Desi Sills, who averages 10 points per game, couldn’t notch one in the scoring column against Florida. Sills missed all six of his field goal attempts, including three three-point attempts in 35 minutes.

Losing streak in Gainesville continues

An entire generation of Hog fans will have to wait at least another year to see Arkansas win a basketball game in Gainesville. It has been almost exactly 25 years since the Razorbacks last won a game at Florida.

On Feb. 28, 1995, Nolan Richardson’s No. 7 Arkansas squad toppled Florida 94-85 behind Corliss Williams’ 20 points. Since then, Arkansas has lost 14 games on the Gators' home court. The Razorbacks are now 7-26 in the series since winning the first five matchups from 1992-96.

Joe nearing a return?

Tuesday night was the fifth straight game and sixth overall that Isaiah Joe has missed with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery.

However, it sounds like it might be the last time the Razorbacks have to play without their sharp-shooter. Joe made the trip to Gainesville, dressed out and went through pregame warmups despite Musselman saying before the game that he wouldn't play.

There had been rumors that Joe might be ready for Saturday's game against Missouri and there seems to be some truth to that, as it was discussed on the radio and television broadcast that he is close to returning.

Joe is Arkansas' second leading scorer this season, averaging 16.0 points per game. He broke the UA single-season record for three-pointers as a freshman and is already climbing the all-time charts, sitting at seventh with 185.