Arkansas outlasts Mizzou basketball in SEC heavyweight bout

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Missouri basketball program had never beaten three straight nationally ranked opponents before coming to Arkansas this week — and still hasn’t. The No. 20 Tigers’ quest to vanquish three consecutive ranked foes collapsed Wednesday under a smothering red wave at Bud Walton Arena, where No. 13 Arkansas erased a 17-point first-half deficit in a 74-68 victory.

In the early candidate for the best SEC game of the young conference season, Arkansas did just enough at the free throw line and on the defensive end to outlast the Tigers in front of a deafening BWA crowd.

The Tigers traveled south hoping to start 2-0 in SEC play for the first time since joining the league, but in a game that got chippy at times and pivotal fouls helped swing momentum, Dennis Gates’ team couldn’t hold off Arkansas’ second-half surge. The Razorbacks (12-2, 1-1 SEC) won their fifth straight in the series — with the rematch just around the corner on Jan. 18 at Mizzou Arena.

Mizzou (12-2, 1-1 SEC) finishes its brutal midseason five-game stretch 3-2 with wins over UCF, Illinois and Kentucky and now come home to host Vanderbilt in front of a third straight sold-out Mizzou Arena crowd on Saturday.

Sean East II led the Tigers with 15 points while Ricky Council IV got hot for the Hogs late and finished with 25.

In a game Mizzou led 25-8 midway through the first half, Arkansas freshman Joseph Pinion got the Hogs within a point, 38-37, with a corner 3-pointer early in the second half to force a quick Gates timeout.

Arkansas took its first lead with a 9-0 run early in the second half, ignited by Pinion, the rarely used freshman guard. His steal started a fast break that Council finished with a dunk, then Devo Davis put the Hogs in front for the first time, 43-42, with another transition bucket. The crowd exploded on a corner 3-pointer from Pinion good for a 46-42 lead.

Anthony Black, Arkansas’ far more celebrated freshman, drained a dagger of a 3-pointer with 3:10 left, turning a one-possession game into a 69-63 lead for the Hogs.

Early fouls hadn’t plagued Kobe Brown in weeks, but that trend changed for the worse in the game’s fourth minute when the senior forward picked up his second. With Brown coming off back-to-back 30-point games against Illinois and Kentucky the Tigers led 7-4 at the time and never buckled without their veteran leader, outscoring Arkansas 22-14 with Brown on the bench for nearly 12 minutes. Mizzou took control with an 11-0 run midway through the half with East leading the attack with two straight baskets. After an Arkansas shot-clock violation, Mizzou added to its lead with Dre Gholston’s pull-up 3-pointer, then a D’Moi Hodge steal and layup — one of four straight turnovers for the Hogs. The Tigers’ lead reached 25-8 before Arkansas countered with a brief 6-0 run.

With 4:08 left in the half, Brown came back into the game — but played carefully with those two fouls. He made an immediate impact where the Tigers needed him most, on the glass. Brown grabbed an offensive rebound to extend a possession that ended with Nick Honor sinking a 3-pointer for a 32-19 lead.

Arkansas’ only saving grace came off the offensive glass. Finding room to operate inside Mizzou’s zone, the Hogs grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points to trail just 34-27 at halftime. The Hogs won the boards 40-23 by game’s end and held Brown to 11 points and two rebounds.

For the sixth time this season Missouri guard Isiaih Mosley didn’t see the floor Wednesday — but this time he wasn’t even in the building. Mosley did not join the rest of the team on its flight from Columbia on Tuesday for what a team spokesperson only described as undisclosed “personal reasons.” The transfer from Missouri State has appeared in eight of MU’s 14 games, all off the bench, but has not played in the last three games and last played just 10 minutes in the team’s Dec. 17 win at UCF. He also didn’t play against Penn, Wichita State or Kansas. Mosley, who led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring each of the last two seasons, has averaged 7.9 points per game while playing 17 minutes off the bench in his eight games this season.

Arkansas was far from full strength. Sophomore forward Trevon Brazile, the Mizzou transfer, was lost for the season with a torn knee ligament, while star freshman Nick Smith Jr. missed his ninth game while nursing a knee injury.