FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks made up a six-point deficit in the final 4:43 Saturday at Bud Walton Arena to prevail 65-63 over Southeastern Conference rival Missouri.
Arkansas (12-5, 2-3) lost an 18-point first-half lead but took the lead with 57 seconds remaining. Missouri (12-5, 2-3) missed two threes in the final minute as the Hogs ended a three-game skid going into Wednesday night's SEC matchup with Florida (12-5, 4-1).
Leading 36-28 at intermission after peaking at 30-12, Arkansas first trailed 57-53 in the second half at 7:15 following two Kevin Puryear free throws. Missouri rebounded the second of two Jeremiah Tilmon missed free throws and fed Kassius Robertson, who hit one of his six 3-pointers.
Missouri's lead peaked at 59-53 on Robertson's jumper at 4:43. Three times Arkansas drew within one point before tying the game at 63-63. Razorback senior guard Daryl Macon drew a charge before senior forward Dustin Thomas hit 1 of 2 free throws at 1:37.
The Razorbacks forged ahead, set up by an offensive foul on Tilmon, who set a vicious pick on Arkansas senior guard Anton Beard. Macon, who had a game-high eight assists, lobbed a pass to freshman Daniel Gafford, Arkansas' leading scorer with 15 points, for the tie-breaking thunderous dunk to send Arkansas ahead for good with 57 seconds left to play
"Daryl's a good passer," Gafford said. "He tells me before every game if I'm open, he's going to dime me. He tells me, 'I'll be diming you.'"
Tilmon fouled Gafford, but Gafford missed the free throw. The miss gave Missouri, 11 of 29 on threes, the chance to go up by one. Jordan Barnett, who scored 12 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds, took the first three with 43 seconds to go, but the shot rimmed out and Macon pulled down his sixth rebound.
Arkansas ran time off the clock, but they had to give it up on Macon's air ball with the shot-clock expiring at the 15 second mark. Guard Jordan Geist fired Missouri's last shot, and his three rimmed out with two seconds left.
"How fitting," Anderson said. "Missouri and Arkansas playing, and it goes down to the last shot. They had a couple of shots to go in and out for them, and we were fortunate to come out on top."
Anderson previously coached Missouri until returning to Arkansas to coach the Razorbacks for the last seven years. He was an assistant coach at Arkansas for 17 years under Nolan Richardson.
Arkansas' defense played a part in its good fortune, Anderson said, noting Beard switched with Thomas to defend against Barnett. Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford made it tougher for Geist's last shot.
"We had enough defensive pressure on him (Geist) that he didn't make the shot," Anderson said. "And before that, Barnett had the same kind of shot, and Anton did a good job of switching.
"They ran a great set where DT, Dustin Thomas, ended up switching. Robertson was coming off and then Anton ended up having Barnett, and it went in and out, and we came up with the rebound. I thought our defense, we did a really good job of just staying with them, and we were fortunate. We had momentum in the first half, but that second half, that's a testament to Cuonzo and his kids. They kept fighting."
Missouri fought back by hitting 11 of 29 threes. Arkansas helped by hitting but 14 of 25 free throws, 56 percent, to Missouri's 10 of 14, 71 percent.
"I look at our free throw percentage, 14 out of 25, and it could have been a different game," Anderson said. "And I look at that and that they made 11 threes, and I wonder, 'How did we win this game?' I think it was our energy and defense."
The Tigers were led by a game-high 26 points from Robertson. Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said his team paid for not matching Arkansas' opening energy.
"Credit Arkansas for winning the game," Martin said. "They set the tone early in the first half, and I think they got up 18 a couple of times and made good plays, played with energy and did a lot of really good things. We weren't as aggressive offensively, and it showed. We came back and played the way we're capable of playing in the second half but came up short."
Aside from Gafford's 15 points and team-high tying six boards, Arkansas got double-digit scoring from senior guard Barford, Bead and Darious Hall, who started and provided energy. Barford scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, but committed six turnovers. Beard scored 11 and Hall had 10 in his first Razorback start.
The normally high-scoring Macon only hit 2 of 7 for eight points, but he more than made up for it by dealing eight assists and sharing Gafford's team rebounding honors with six. Anderson said Macon "played some of his better defense down the stretch."
Sports on 01/15/2018