Field Level Media
Mar 9, 2019
Arkansas fans chanted for sophomore Daniel Gafford to return for one more year, and it was hard to blame them the way Gafford dominated Saturday.
Gafford had 29 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to lead Arkansas to an 82-70 win over Alabama in an SEC contest at Fayetteville, Ark.
It was the final home game of the season for Arkansas and possibly the final home game for Gafford, a prospect for the upcoming NBA draft.
Arkansas (17-14, 8-10 SEC) has now won three games in a row following a six-game losing streak and will be the No. 9 seed for the upcoming SEC tournament.
A team teetering on the NCAA tournament bubble most of the season, Alabama (17-14, 8-10) has lost three in a row and will be the No. 10 seed in the SEC tournament.
Leading 36-31 at halftime, Arkansas gradually wore out Alabama with its full-court defensive pressure, taking a 49-37 lead with 13:00 remaining.
Alabama managed to cut its deficit to 56-49 with 7:45 remaining, but a corner 3-pointer by Desi Sills and a follow-up dunk by Gafford quickly restored the Arkansas lead to 12 at 61-49 with 6:56 left.
The Razorbacks never looked back from there, going on an 8-0 run to take a 75-57 lead with 3:08 remaining.
Gafford went 11 of 17 from the field and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line. Freshman guard Isaiah Joe added 15 points for the Razorbacks, who only committed eight turnovers.
Junior Tevin Mack scored 14 points to lead Alabama, which committed 15 turnovers and went 10 of 20 from the free-throw line.
Alabama went on a 9-0 run in the first half to take a 26-19 lead with 10:29 remaining in the first half, but Arkansas answered back.
The Razorbacks used a 10-0 run to take a 27-26 lead with 5:17 left in the half and ultimately took a 36-31 lead at halftime.
--Field Level Media