COLUMBIA, Mo. – With the game tied at 71 with one minute to play, Missouri went 8-of-8 at the line down the stretch to pull out a 79-76 victory over #25 Arkansas Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
Overall, Missouri was 30-of-40 at the line, including 21-of-28 in the second half.
Arkansas dominated many of the stats, most notably outrebounding the Tigers 42-23 thanks to nine from Makhi Mitchell and seven from Kamani Johnson. However, the Razorbacks committed 21 turnovers which led to the Tigers outscoring the Hogs 31-13 on points off turnovers.
The Razorbacks led by 10 twice in the second half before a 10-0 run by Missouri tied the game at 67 with 2:28 left. Arkansas grabbed a couple of 2-point leads over the next minutes, including a 71-69 advantage after two Makhi free throws with 1:13 left.
Deandre Gholston answered with a jumper to knot the game at 71 to set up the final flourish. Anthony Black kept the Razorbacks in striking distance with a layup and a 3-pointer before Sean East II sank two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to provide the final score.
Kobe Brown led Missouri with 17 points and Gholston had 16. East added 12, going 6-of-6 at the line.
Davonte Davis led Arkansas with 18 points, making a season-high three 3-pointers, and he added nine rebounds. Black finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Ricky Council IV had 13 points and three steals. Jordan Walsh, who was +13 in 13 minutes played before fouling out, did not miss a shot in scoring 12 points. He was 4-of-4 from the field (2-of-2 from 3-point range) and was 2-of-2 from the line.
Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena on Saturday (Jan. 21 to host the Ole Miss Rebels. Tipoff is set for 11 am (CT) and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
