TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama shot 44.4 percent Wednesday night, the best for an Arkansas opponent in the past four games.
It still wasn't good enough to beat the rolling Razorbacks, whose fourth consecutive victory snapped a seven-game road losing streak to the Crimson Tide, dating to a 63-57 decision over No. 12 Alabama on Jan. 27, 2007.
Up next
SOUTH CAROLINA AT ARKANSAS
WHEN 4 p.m. Saturday
WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville
RECORDS Arkansas 16-14, 9-8 SEC; South Carolina 23-7, 10-6
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
TV SEC Network
D’ing up
• Arkansas has held its past four opponents to 39.1 percent shooting from the floor. A look at the shooting numbers:
Opponent FG Pct. 3-pt FG Pct. Outcome
Missouri 25-63 39.7 6-23 26.1 W 84-72
LSU 20-57 35.1 7-24 29.2 W 85-65
at Tennessee 25-65 38.5 4-21 19.0 W 75-65
at Alabama 20-45 44.4 6-18 33.3 W 62-61
Totals 90-230 39.1 23-86 26.7 W 4
Arkansas spoiled the Crimson Tide's senior night in advance of its own senior day game at 4 p.m. Saturday against South Carolina.
Arkansas center Moses Kingsley said the victory over Alabama, which had won six of eight games and was projected as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament heading into the week, "took everything we've got.
"We knew that Alabama had won a bunch of games coming in. They had a winning streak, and we had a winning streak, too. We thought we'd come in and try to give the first punch before we let people punch us. We threw the first punch and tried to play defense."
The defense, Coach Mike Anderson said, has been the biggest factor in the Hogs' late-season run. Arkansas' winning streak has clinched a winning regular-season record to extend Anderson's streak to 14 seasons as a head coach without a losing record.
After taking a 58-57 lead with 3:38 remaining, Alabama missed five consecutive shots and committed a turnover as the Razorbacks went on a 5-0 run.
"We talked about getting stops from the beginning of this game," Anderson said late Wednesday. "And what is taking place even as we've won a few games in a row, our defense has been the difference."
Arkansas has held Missouri, LSU, Tennessee and Alabama to a combined 90 of 230 (39.1 percent) shooting overall and 23 of 86 (26.7 percent) from three-point range during its winning streak. Those numbers are markedly better than the Razorbacks' season averages. The Hogs rank No. 12 in the SEC in holding opponents to 43.5 percent shooting and last in the SEC with their 35.5 percent three-point defense.
The defensive reversal came on the heels of Arkansas' 90-86 home loss against Auburn in which the Tigers shot 61.1 percent from the floor and 65.2 percent from three-point range.
"We came out and got stops when we needed and got buckets when we needed," said Arkansas guard Anthlon Bell, whose two free throws with four seconds remaining clinched the victory Wednesday. "We've got a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum going into Saturday."
Bell, who went 6 of 6 from the line against Alabama, has made 29 consecutive free throws over nine games.
"I haven't missed in a few games, knock on wood," Bell said.
"We shot well enough, but we played defense," said Kingsley, whose 19 points gave him 485 for the season, just ahead of Dusty Hannahs' 480 points and Bell's 478 points. "When we play defense and make shots, we're going to have a good night. Coach has been emphasizing defense all week, and I felt like we got some good stops."
Alabama's 45 shots taken marked a season low for an Arkansas opponent. The Hogs' 62 points were their lowest winning point total of the season and the program's lowest in a victory since a 56-53 decision over Wofford in their NCAA Tournament opener March 19.
"We need to play defense in order to win games, because we know that we can score," senior guard Jabril Durham said. "It's not about that. We all know we can score. But most of our games come down to three or four points, and that's because of defensive assignments."
Arkansas' victory over Alabama, its first one-point victory of the season, gave the Hogs a 3-8 record in games decided by four of less points.
"We've been in a lot of close games, a lot of close games," Anderson said. "Sometimes it's not all about making shots, it's getting stops."
Sports on 03/04/2016