FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Keyshawn Embery-Simpson scored 14 second-half points to help Arkansas rally past Austin Peay 76-65 on Friday.
Embery-Simpson fueled a 20-5 Arkansas run that turned a 52-48 deficit into a 68-57 Razorback advantage. Embery-Simpson scored 12 during the run, including seven straight Arkansas points, and capped the rally with a 3-pointer with 4:12 left in the game. Embery-Simpson finished with all 14 of his points in the second half.
The Razorbacks (9-3) battled through foul trouble and a scrappy Austin Peay team that outrebounded Arkansas 42-34.
The Governors (8-5) led 50-46 midway through the second half when Arkansas' leading scorer, Daniel Gafford, landed awkwardly in the lane and hit the floor with a right ankle injury. Gafford was helped to the bench and went to the locker room for a brief period before returning to the game. His dunk off a Reggie Chaney feed gave the Razorbacks the lead for good at 54-52.
Gafford led the Razorbacks with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Jabari McGee helped the Governors rally to pull within 68-62, scoring five of his 10 points, but the Razorbacks locked down the win on Jalen Harris' 3-pointer from the left wing, just his fourth 3-pointer of the season in almost 30 attempts, giving Arkansas a 71-62 lead with 1:48 left.
Arkansas led 34-33 at halftime as Isaiah Joe scored 12 of his 15 points including four 3-pointers. Joe, who sat out the final 4:34 of the first half after picking up two fouls in the span of 21 seconds, hit his first three 3-point attempts, then later drilled his fourth to give the Razorbacks a 26-23 lead with 7:08 left in the first half.
Austin Peay took a 29-28 lead on a pair of free throws by Terry Taylor and could have extended the lead further, but missed the front end of three straight one-and-ones in the final minutes of the half.
The Governors took their last lead of the half on Chris Porter-Bunton's 3-pointer from the top of the key that gave them a 33-32 lead.
Jordan Phillips gave Arkansas back the lead with a pair of free throws with 48 seconds left in the half.
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas dropped a pair of home games to Western Kentucky and Georgia Tech and was on the verge of another home loss before the second-half rally. The Razorbacks were able to pull this one out and will carry that momentum into the start of Southeastern Conference play when they return from the holiday break.
UP NEXT
Austin Peay: The Governors are off until Thursday when they host Eastern Kentucky in the Ohio Valley Conference opener.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks return to action on Jan. 5 when they open SEC play on the road at Texas A&M.
EARLIER
Arkansas 76, Austin Peay 65 - Final
Arkansas pulled away from Austin Peay with a big run late in the second half to earn its ninth win of the season and close out 2018. The Razorbacks will open SEC play in eight days at Texas A&M.
Daniel Gafford led Arkansas with 16 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the month and sixth of the season. He now has twice as many double-double this season as he did as a freshman and still has two-plus months to go.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson provided a massive lift off the bench after halftime, scoring 14 points over a five-minute span to help the Hogs pull themselves out of hole offensively. Isaiah Joe semi-quietly added 15 points and looked to be a bit more locked in from 3-point range tonight, finishing 4/7. Reggie Chaney also scored 12 points off the bench.
We'll have more from this game in a little bit.
Arkansas 74, Austin Peay 65 - 56.9 seconds left
Isaiah Joe has hit 3/5 free throws in the last minute-plus to give Arkansas some cushion late. He has 15 points tonight despite battling foul issues. Gafford has 16 points and nine rebounds. Embery-Simpson and Chaney also with 12 each.
Arkansas 68, Austin Peay 57 - 4:12 left
Embery-Simpson has grabbed the aux cord the last five minutes, scoring 12 points since the 9:09 mark. Arkansas is on a 7-0 run over the last 1:06 and has taken almost complete control of this game, hitting Austin Peay with haymaker after haymaker.
Daniel Gafford has 16 points and eight boards, needing just two more rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. It would give him a double-double average for the month of December.
Arkansas 59, Austin Peay 52 - 7:13 left
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson might be the MVP of the second half for Arkansas. He has seven huge points off the bench, including three of Arkansas' last four buckets. He scored five points over a 30-second span to really get the crowd going. Huge boost for the Razorbacks to get some scoring from him.
Arkansas 54, Austin Peay 52 - 8:20 left
Arkansas' crowd has been tremendous over the last 2-3 minutes, standing and cheering loudly on each Austin Peay offensive possession. The Governors have not scored on their last three possessions and Arkansas has taken advantage.
Daniel Gafford threw down a monstrous two-hand slam to give Arkansas the lead just before Austin Peay called for time. Great find by Reggie Chaney, who drove baseline and hit Gafford with an on-the-money pass in the paint. Gafford up to 16 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Austin Peay 50, Arkansas 48 - 11:20 left
Desi Sills hit Reggie Chaney for a bucket under the rim to cut the Governors' lead to just two at the under-12 timeout. Chaney added a block on the other end and an Austin Peay forward fouled Isaiah Joe going after the loose ball. Joe will be at the line out of the break.
Austin Peay 50, Arkansas 46 - 12:45 left
Gafford went to the locker room with Arkansas' team doctor and Dave England and returned a short time later. He then checked into the game and appears to be running fine. It was definitely a right ankle issue.
Meanwhile, Austin Peay is on a 6-0 run over the last 1:12 and has a four-point lead, it's largest of the night. Arkansas' offense is out of sorts and especially so with Gafford and Joe (three fouls) off the floor.
Austin Peay's Dayton Gumm is having a great second half so far. He has seven of his 10 after the halftime break. Razorbacks are 4/11 shooting and 0/4 from 3-point range since halftime.
Arkansas 45, Austin Peay 44 - 14:20 left
Daniel Gafford went down with a right ankle injury and was helped off the floor by longtime trainer Dave England. Reggie Chaney in in his place.
Arkansas 43, Austin Peay 42 - 15:38 left
Adrio Bailey took a lot of frustration out on the rim on a pair of dunks to open the second half for Arkansas. He scored five points in the first 1:30 out of the break after scoring just two points in the team's last four-plus games. Bailey, though, was pulled from the lineup in favor of Osabuohien prior to the 17-minute mark.
Jalen Harris has two points on a pair of free throws and Daniel Gafford added another bucket on a dunk off a feed from Osabuohien, who has three assists tonight.
Osabuohien's best asset the last two games has been his passing, and it's not close. He has seven assists in Arkansas' last two games after not recording one in the previous four and had just seven for the season entering the Texas State game.
Arkansas 34, Austin Peay 33 - Half
Jordan Phillips scored the Razorbacks' final four points of the half to give them a lead at the break. His one bucket was a long 2 from the left corner. He added two free throws a few possessions later. He played eight minutes in the first half, and I think it was a pretty concerted effort by Anderson and his staff to get him more prepared for conference play next weekend.
Isaiah Joe - two fouls - leads the way with 12 points on 4/5 from deep, and Gafford added eight points, four rebounds and four blocks while Reggie Chaney added six points - four on finds from Gabe Osabuohien. No other Razorback has more than four points.
Jalen Harris is back on his assist game tonight moreso than in previous games. He has six at the break after tallying just five in games against Georgia Tech and Texas State.
Austin Peay guard Steve Harris had a solid half, scoring a team-high nine points for the Governors on 3/5 from the floor. Governors are hanging around thanks to a 9-2 edge in second-chance points.
Austin Peay 30, Arkansas 28 - 3:18 left first half
Jordan Phillips has gotten some extended first-half run with Arkansas' first team, and it hasn't gone great. He's taken some ill-advised shots tonight, including one he pulled from just inside the 3-point line on the left wing in transition. Per SportsReference, he averages nearly 23 shots per 40 minutes, which isn't ideal whatsoever. He's definitely not shy about getting shots up.
Isaiah Joe has a team-high 12 points on 4/5 from deep and Daniel Gafford has eight points, three boards and four blocks to this point. He dove on the floor for a loose ball on the defensive end and called for time to give Arkansas possession. Just a great, heady play.
Austin Peay 23, Arkansas 21 - 7:54 left first half
Daniel Gafford added another score at the rim over a smaller matchup and Austin Peay's Jabari McGhee slammed one home prior to the media timeout to set the current score.
Gafford has six points on 3/4 from the floor to go with three rebounds and three blocks. Isaiah Joe leads all scorers with nine points on 3/4 from 3-point range.
Austin Peay has a 7-2 edge in second-chance points right now.
Austin Peay 21, Arkansas 19 - 9:57 left first half
Joe added two more 3-pointers between the breaks and is up to nine points on the night. He looks - at least early - to be back in early December form when he was shooting better than 63 percent from deep. On his most recent triple, he used a pretty shot fake to get a pair of defenders off their feet.
Jordan Phillips is also getting some run tonight, checking in at the 12:48 mark.
The Razorbacks' reserves had a rough stretch prior to the under-12 timeout and allowed 7-2 run to give the lead back to Austin Peay. Gabe Osabuohien did have a pair of nice finds to Reggie Chaney for scores, but the lineup (Sills, Osabuohien, Chaney, Embery-Simpson and Phillips) really struggled offensively.
Mike Anderson subbed his starters back in following the timeout.
Arkansas 9, Austin Peay 9 - 15:37 left first half
Austin Peay has battled back from an early 6-1 deficit to knot the score at the first media timeout. Governors already have four second-chance points and three offensive rebounds.
Isaiah Joe is off to a solid start, burying his first 3-point attempt of the night from the right wing to get Arkansas on the board first. Daniel Gafford also has a pair of scores at the rim and three rebounds early on. Jalen Harris added a pair of free throws as well.
For what it's worth, Desi Sills and Gabe Osabuohien were the first Razorbacks off the bench tonight, replacing Bailey and Jones. Bailey missed a short-corner jumper just over three minutes in.
Pregame
Arkansas' starting lineup: Jalen Harris, Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, Adrio Bailey and Daniel Gafford.
Adrio Bailey is the only player on the Razorbacks' roster who has faced Austin Peay in his career. He was a freshman when Arkansas beat the Governors 99-62 in 2016. Bailey scored a then-career high 14 points off the bench on 7/8 shooting. We'll see if Bailey can break out of his funk a bit tonight. He has just two points and six turnovers in Arkansas' last four games.
Austin Peay's starters: Chris Porter-Bunton, Jarrett Givens, Terry Taylor, Steve Harris and Zach Glotta.
Terry Taylor is the player to keep an eye on for Austin Peay. He is averaging 17.6 points and better than nine rebounds per game this season at 6-foot-5. He has been a bit boom or bust in the Governors' last three games, scoring 32 points against IPFW and Liberty but he added just eight points and fouled out against Campbell.
Live updates by Scottie Bordelon