Barford's shot fuels Hogs

University of Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford (0) pulls up for a jump shot in the second half of their game against North Florida Saturday, December 10, 2016 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford hit just 1 of 5 three-point attempts Saturday against North Florida, but his timing for the lone make couldn't have been better.

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Barford's three-point basket with the 30-second shot clock running down helped propel the Razorbacks to a 91-76 victory over the Ospreys before an announced crowd of 7,650 in Walton Arena.

"Barford's three was huge," North Florida Coach Matthew Driscoll said. "Man, it broke our back."

Barford's three-pointer put the Razorbacks ahead to stay, 65-63, with 12:05 left and started a 29-13 closing run for Arkansas.

"I just saw the clock and I went tunnel vision, honestly," said Barford, a 6-3 junior transfer from Motlow (Tenn.) State Community College. "I just knew I had to make that shot.

"I shoot that shot every day in practice, after practice every day, and I see it paying off a whole lot. I just shot it with confidence and it went in."

Barford hit 6 of 16 from the field and 1 of 4 on free throws, but he showed no hesitation in taking what turned into a crucial shot.

"Some players live for those kind of moments, and I think he's one of those guys," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "For him to have the wherewithal as the shot clock is running down, and he's not afraid, I like that.

"You've got to have guts. No guts no glory. He's got some guts."

Arkansas junior guard Daryl Macon said Barford's shot "got me out of my seat" on the bench.

Macon checked into the game 22 seconds later and hit back-to-back three-pointers within a 13-second span to push the Razorbacks' lead to 73-63 with 9:59 left.

"His name's perfect," Driscoll said. "When Macon was makin' those back-to-back threes, that really hurt us as well."

Macon, a 6-3 junior transfer from Holmes (Miss.) Community College who starred at Little Rock Parkview, missed his first two three-point attempts Saturday before heating up.

"The back-to-back threes I hit, it was something inside of me that was telling me, 'Don't stop shooting,' " Macon said with a smile. "No matter how many threes I miss, no matter who gets mad because I'm missing, I'm not going to stop shooting.

"I don't care who thinks bad about it. It's going in the air. No matter where it's from or who's in my face, I'm going to shoot the ball.

"That's what I do. I work on it in practice every day."

Dusty Hannahs, a senior guard from Little Rock, led the Razorbacks (8-1) with 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench. He hit 5 of 10 shots, including 2 of 6 three-pointers.

Barford had 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Macon had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Senior center Moses Kingsley had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and junior forward Dustin Thomas had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Razorbacks' scoring balance offset a game-high 34 points by North Florida senior guard Dallas Moore, who hit 12 of 20 shots -- including 4 of 9 three-pointers -- and 6 of 6 free throws.

"I think he's a phenomenal player," Anderson said. "This guy has got unbelievable range, and he's pretty crafty with the basketball."

Moore hit two free throws to give the Ospreys (3-8) a 63-62 lead with 12:32 left before the Razorbacks took control of the game.

Driscoll said he had seen similar late runs by Arkansas in its other victories at home this season.

"You're winning or it's a tie game, and then all of a sudden you're down 10," Driscoll said. "It's the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life, and it happened to us tonight."

Anderson said his players might have gotten caught up looking at the Ospreys' record -- which included a 77-71 loss at Syracuse in their previous game -- and didn't come out focused.

"Sometimes you tell kids, 'Don't look at their record because you're going to get their best shot,' and we got their best shot," Anderson said. "We've got finals coming on, too.

"I thought my guys were probably in the finals in the first half. It seemed like it, but we woke up in the second half and played well."

Sports on 12/11/2016