What we learned in Arkansas' 83-78 loss at Missouri

Arkansas’ Moses Kingsley, right, holds his head as Missouri's Kevin Puryear walks in the background, after Kingsley was fouled during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Columbia, Mo. Arkansas won the game 94-61. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament hopes took a hit

The Razorbacks entered Saturday off to its best start in 19 years and firmly in the projected NCAA Tournament field as a consensus 9-seed in the latest batch of brackets, according to BracketMatrix.com.

The 83-78 loss to a Missouri team that hadn’t won since Dec. 6 likely leaves the Hogs on the outside looking in, probably needing to earn a signature win either at Florida or at South Carolina, two tall tasks, to avoid missing the tournament for a second straight year.

The Tigers entered the day with an SEC-worst No. 262 RPI, losers of 13 straight in SEC play. The defeat was a huge letdown for the Hogs after an impressive 87-68 win over Alabama on Wednesday, a potentially costly lapse that could prove fatal unless they come close to running the table the rest of the way.

Defense exposed, again

Missouri entered the day ranked last in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging just 68.6 points per game. The Tigers didn’t play like it.

They scored 47 points in the first half, nearly equaling their output in their last two complete games when they scored 53 against South Carolina and the 54 against Florida. Missouri shot nearly 62 percent in the first half after entering the game shooting an SEC-worst 38.1 percent in SEC play.

The Tigers weren’t quite as potent in the second half, but still topped 80 points for the first time in conference play against an Arkansas team that entered the game ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring defense in conference games.

The Razorbacks had been giving up 77.4 points per game to league foes. The SEC’s worst offense found a way to top that.

It's hard to always rally

Arkansas’ 3 road wins in SEC play unfolded in similar fashion: The Hogs fell behind by double digits, but rallied for close wins.

The Razorbacks won after trailing by 13 at Tennessee, 12 at Texas A&M and by 15 at Vanderbilt. They rallied to tie the game late in the second half Saturday, but couldn’t pull off another comeback.

Barford has arrived

Jaylen Barford set a new career-high for the second time in 8 days, scoring a game-high 23 points to top the 21 he poured in at Oklahoma State last Saturday.

Barford made 8 of 16 shots and 7 of 8 free throws, his offense helping keep the Razorbacks in the game.

He is averaging 17.2 points his last 5 games after averaging 10 his first 18.

Hogs hurt by Kingsley's struggles

Moses Kingsley sat for the final 8:29 of the first half after picking up a technical foul, which doubled as his second personal foul.

The 6-foot-10 forward played most of the second half, but never established any sort of rhythm, scoring a season-low 4 points on 1 of 3 shooting and finishing with just 2 rebounds and 1 block.

The 4 points were the least he’d scored since also scoring 4 in a 32-point loss at Mississippi State last February. He hasn’t scored fewer than 4 since his sophomore season, when he averaged 10.9 minutes a game as Bobby Portis’ backup.