FAYETTEVILLE — The SEC’s worst free throwing shooting team downed Ole Miss Saturday afternoon in large part because it finally cashed in at the free throw line.
Jaylen Barford had 23 points and Daryl Macon added 20 as Arkansas put five players in double figures and made 28 of 35 free throws in a 97-93 win over Ole Miss before 18,030 fans at Bud Walton Arena.
That 80 percent success rate - and hitting 9-of-10 in the final minute - was a far cry from normal for the Razorbacks (13-6, 3-4), who entered the game shooting a league-worst 65.5 percent for the season and just 57 percent in league games.
“I can talk about free throws and getting in there and putting in extra reps," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “Now they’re seeing, ‘I’m shooting 50 percent from the free throw line and that isn’t going to help our team.’ It was much needed today that those guys hit their free throws.
“Hopefully they’ll continue to work on them because we’re going to be a team that gets to the line because we’re an attacking team."
Macon, who had six assists, hit 11 of 12 free throws, Darious Hall made all eight of his attempts and Daniel Gafford sunk 3 of 4.
The two teams both made 29 field goals and 11 3-pointers each, but Arkansas hit four more free throws than Ole Miss (10-9, 3-4).
“We work on free throws pretty much every day,” said Gafford, who had been 14 of his last 40 from the free throw line. “After practice, before practice, and I work on them either on my own or with a coach. … Those were pretty big free throws we hit tonight and that’s all I can say about that because we just have been working on them. We were a bad free throw shooting team at the time but we’re progressing.”
Gafford had 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals while Hall and CJ Jones - who hit 4-of-6 shots including a trio of 3-pointers - both added 11.
Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy, who falls to 5-5 in games at Bud Walton Arena, was obviously dumbfounded.
“They go 80 percent,” Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said. “What were they coming in for the season, 57 or 58 percent? Something crazy though, right? And here they go 80 percent. That's a credit to them. That's kids just locked in and making shots. They wanted to win and they proved that.”
Arkansas, who led for all but 21 seconds, took a 50-34 near the end of the first half and had a 12-point lead with just under 12 minutes left in the game.
But the Rebels buried a flurry of 3-pointers to cut that lead to four before Macon - who had 13 points in the first half but no field goals after intermission - began his march to the free throw line to put the game away.
“I was proud of our guys. We had it at five in the second half pretty quickly and they spurted back to 11,” Kennedy said. “Our guys hung around, hung around and at the end our numbers don't look so bad because we made some shots at the end. But we missed a lot of clean looks - looks that you have to make in order to win an SEC road game.”
Macon - the team’s best free throw shooter at 84.3 percent (70-of-83) - made sure Gafford knew to get him the ball late.
“He came and told me - after I threw it to JB (Barford) one time - ‘Dan, I am coming to get the ball,' so every time I saw him, I just gave him the ball.”
The Razorbacks made just enough to keep the Rebels at bay although Ole Miss knocked down four 3-pointers late to make things interesting.
“They shot the ball very well down the stretch,” Barford said. “They made some big shots. I knew every time out, I said they were going to keep on going for the three because that is the type of team they are and the type of coach Andy Kennedy is. He goes for the gusto. So that is what they did.”
Gafford offered up his assessment of the the Rebels' late barrage.
“I am going to tell you that I think what their coach said was picture the rim the size of this (media) room because every time they shot a three it went straight through.
“It was intense at the time, but surprising also because making that many threes in such little time and getting that close, we just had to lock in.”
Beard (7 points, 5 assists, 0 turnovers) played 30 minutes and fellow senior Trey Thompson 12 despite being listed as questionable for Saturday after suffering injuries in Wednesday’s loss at Florida.
“I wasn't surprised,” Barford said. “They're seniors and they know how crucial our senior year is. Anton has always been tough and Trey has been tough, too. I don’t really think they were that hurt to be honest. They look alright to me."
Arkansas, who won six road games last season, will try to grab its first one this season at Georgia on Tuesday night.
“We needed a win under our belt to go on the road to give us the confidence to go play,” Gafford said. “As you can see, we have been struggling on the road so playing in a game like this - and how we played - is going to help us pick up on the road.”
Tuesday also doubles as Barford’s birthday.
“We need to worry about (winning) our first road game at Georgia, and that will carry over,” Barford said. “We have to come out with a win.”