ATHENS, Ga. -- Arkansas made it harder than it needed to be.
Yante Maten made it even harder.
Coach Mike Anderson's Razorbacks (14-6, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) persevered through two overtimes on the road Tuesday to steal a valuable 80-77 road win at Georgia (12-7, 3-5) in the Bulldogs' Stegeman Coliseum. The Hogs finally added a true road win to their NCAA Tournament resume in their fifth try this season.
The win was never certain and looked unlikely for the first 14 minutes. Arkansas began the game with a stereotypical sluggish start on the road.
Georgia led 7-0 until senior Jaylen Barford scored the first two points for the visitors. The junior college transfer celebrated his 22nd birthday on Tuesday with a standout performance, carrying the Razorbacks for much of regulation.
Five straight points from freshman Darious Hall made the score 9-7 just more than six minutes into the game, but the Bulldogs dominated the next eight minutes of the game. They eventually led 24-9 and took their largest lead of the game at 27-11 and 29-13.
Then, Barford turned it on. The senior led the Hogs on an 8-0 run and a 7-0 run to outscore Georgia 15-4 in the final six minutes of the half to trail just 33-28.
Barford shot 4-for-8 in the first half and led Arkansas with 10 points. Maten, who was one of three players to share SEC Preseason Player of the Year honors, entered the break with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Razorbacks had lost nine straight games when trailing at halftime, but the five-point margin was encouraging as they received zero first-half points from senior Daryl Macon and freshman Daniel Gafford.
Gafford had zero points and three rebounds in the first half. He finished the game with zero points and three rebounds, despite playing 27 minutes.
Macon had other plans.
Barford stayed hot at the start of the second half. He scored eight points in the opening four minutes to increase his tally to 18 points and give the Razorbacks their first lead at 38-37. Neither team led by more than six points the rest of the way.
Arkansas looked to have taken control of the game when Barford put the Hogs ahead 56-50 with 7:45 left in regulation. It was the last time Barford scored in the game and Arkansas had to survive a drought of almost five minutes without a field goal.
Maten tied the game at 58-58 with a 3-pointer with 4:29 on the clock. Macon later answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 61-61 to finish regulation with nine points.
Senior guard Anton Beard put Arkansas ahead 63-61 with a jumper with 28 seconds remaining. Georgia's Jordan Harris was saved by a foul call with five seconds on the clock. The freshman, a 54 percent free throw shooter, sank both attempts to send the game into overtime.
Macon scored five of Arkansas' six points in the first overtime period. Harris had a chance to put Georgia ahead at the free throw line in overtime, but made 1 of 2 and the teams entered the second overtime tied 69-69.
The score was tied eight times during the game and the lead changed hands 17 times. Macon gave Arkansas the lead three more times in the second overtime, including the final advantage.
The senior sank three deep, contested 3-pointers in double overtime. His final three gave Arkansas the lead for good with 1:03 on the clock.
A free throw by Maten made the score 78-77 with 41 seconds remaining. He finished the game with 26 points and 15 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, in 46 minutes.
Maten had what looked to be a wide open chance at the rim to take the lead with less than five seconds to play, but senior Trey Thompson pinned his shot against the backboard. Maten touched the ball inbound before re-establishing himself, giving Arkansas possession. Macon received the inbound pass and sank two free throws to set the final score.
Macon scored 16 points in 10 minutes of overtime play to finish with 25 points on 7-for-14 shooting, 5-for-10 from 3-point and 6-for-6 at the free throw line after starting the game on the bench. Barford scored 24 points on 10-for-20 shooting and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Beard scored eight points and led the Hogs with four assists and four rebounds. Thompson also had four rebounds and two blocks.
Senior Dustin Thomas scored eight points and was called for three illegal screens in 29 minutes after Anderson held him out a 97-93 home win on Saturday over Ole Miss (11-9, 4-4).
Arkansas will play Oklahoma State (13-7, 3-5 Big 12) Saturday in Fayetteville at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 (Resort Channel 29).
Sports on 01/25/2018