Field Level Media
Jan 13, 2018
Arkansas built double-digit leads in each half but had to rally late for a 65-63 victory over Missouri on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., to end a three-game losing streak.
After leading by 18 points in the first half and 11 early in the second, the Razorbacks (12-5, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) fell behind 63-60 in the closing minutes. However, forward Dustin Thomas hit one of two free throws to tie it at 63-all with 1:37 remaining, and forward Daniel Gafford slammed home a dunk with 57.9 seconds left for the deciding points.
Gafford led Arkansas in scoring with 15 points. Jaylen Barford added 13, Anton Beard 11 and Darious Hall 10.
Missouri guard Kassius Robertson scored a season-high 26 to lead the Tigers (12-5, 2-2 SEC). Jordan Barnett added 13 points for Missouri.
Arkansas went on a 21-3 run to take a commanding 28-10 lead with about six minutes left in the first half. The Razorbacks were 11 of 19 from the field at that point with the Tigers struggling at 4 of 20.
However, the Tigers were able to regroup, and after trailing 32-17 after a dunk by Gafford, they responded and cut the Hogs' lead down to 35-28 at the break.
Robertson led Mizzou's resurgence with six of his 13 first-half points over the last 3:49. The Tigers also had six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes to just two for Arkansas.
Hall scored 10 points in the first half in his first career start to lead Arkansas' scoring. Senior guard Daryl Macon didn't start for the first time this season but entered the game with over 15 minutes left in the first half and ended up with eight points -- about half of his average.
Arkansas made up for its deficit from 3-point range in the first half by going 9 of 17 from the free-throw line to Mizzou's 2 of 3 in the first half. The Hogs finished the game 14 of 25 from the stripe to 10 of 14 for the Tigers.
--Field Level Media