FAYETTEVILLE — Daryl Macon's worst game in his two seasons at Arkansas came in a blowout loss at Oklahoma State a year ago.
The senior guard made amends for that lackluster performance on Saturday, and the Razorbacks returned the favor at home with a 66-65 win over the Cowboys.
Daniel Gafford put the finishing touch on the comeback win for Arkansas (15-6), tipping in Anton Beard's missed floater with 16.2 seconds to give the Razorbacks the one-point lead.
It was Macon, however, who helped Arkansas rally from 13 points down in the first half — scoring a game-high 22 points off the bench. Macon's effort came a year after he was 0 of 8 from the field, including 0 of 6 from 3-point range, and was held scoreless for the only time in his Razorbacks career.
"I wasn't even thinking about last year," Macon said. "I just went out there and played ball. When you're playing this game, things happen and sometimes you're not going to get your average and sometimes you are. You've just got to keep pushing."
Macon was the lone Razorbacks player to finish in double figures, and he finished 7 of 13 from the field — 4 of 7 on 3-pointers.
With leading scorer Jaylen Barford struggling though a 2-of-11 shooting performance, Arkansas was forced to rely on its defense in the second half. The Razorbacks responded on that end of the court, holding Oklahoma State (13-8) to only two field goals in the final 16:28 and none in the last 7:33 of the game.
That included a pair of misses at close range by Jeffrey Carroll and Mitchell Solomon in the closing seconds for the Cowboys. The misses followed Gafford's tip-in at the other end for Arkansas, and they helped the Razorbacks improve to 10-1 in their last 11 one-possession games.
"We were fortunate right there when they had two tips at the ball," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "I don't know if there's some Angel up there, but it just kept that ball out and we were able to get the win."
Lindy Waters scored 17 points to lead the Cowboys, who fell to 3-2 in the Big 12/Southeastern Conference Challenge. Brandon Averette and Solomon added 10 points each in the loss, and Oklahoma State hit just 5 of 22 shots (22.7 percent) in the second half after shooting 50 percent (15 of 30) in the first.
"We put ourselves in position to win the game," Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. "We just didn't finish the right way."
The Cowboys had one final chance at the win after Trey Thompson missed a free throw for Arkansas with 2.6 seconds remaining. Waters missed on a desperation heave from over half court as time expired, however, and Arkansas earned its first win over the Cowboys since 1971.
"We got a lot of good looks," Averette said. "They just didn't fall for us."
BIG PICTURE
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys entered the game having won 10 of their last 11 games against Arkansas dating back to 1966. They appeared on their way to making it 11 of 12 on Saturday, but Arkansas used a 12-0 second-half run to take its first lead and then hold on in the closing seconds.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks were blown out 99-71 at Oklahoma State a year ago, a game in which they trailed 59-33 at halftime. Things didn't appear to be going much better early on Saturday for Arkansas, which fell behind 9-0 to start the game and was down 24-11 after a putback by the Cowboys' Trey Reeves. However, Macon scored eight of the Razorbacks next 10 points to pull them back into the game — and eventually to the win.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma State hosts TCU on Tuesday.
The Razorbacks are at Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
EARLIER
Arkansas 66, Oklahoma State 65 - Final
Daniel Gafford's tip-in served as the eventual game-winner and Arkansas survives a thriller in Bud Walton Arena to improve to 15-6 on the season.
Daryl Macon led all scorers with 22 and Dustin Thomas turned in a nine-point, 10-rebound effort in his second solid game of the week. Trey Thompson - 2 blocks, 2 steals - continued to make big defensive plays, and was entrusted by Mike Anderson on the Cowboys' final possession.
Oklahoma State missed a pair of good looks in the final seconds. Mitchell Solomon's putback missed to the right and Arkansas hung on. Lindy Waters led the Cowboys with 17 points.
Arkansas 66, Oklahoma State 65 - 16.2 seconds left
Anton Beard missed a floater in the lane, but Daniel Gafford tipped it in for his third bucket of the game.
Oklahoma State has possession out of a timeout.
Arkansas 62, Oklahoma State 61 - 3:23 left
Trey Thompson has made some big plays defensively this week. His steal of OSU's Lindy Waters' pass led to a transition bucket by Dustin Thomas on a feed from Daryl Macon.
Then, a nice hustle play from the Hogs forced a jumpball, and the possession arrow favored Arkansas.
Oklahoma State 56, Arkansas 55 - 7:15 left
Arkansas took its first lead of the game on an Arlando Cook tip-in with 10:50 to play. C.J. Jones then put the Hogs up 55-53 with his first 3 of the day.
Arkansas' defense got it back into this one, holding the Cowboys more than eight minutes without a make from the floor. Daniel Gafford is at the line when play resumes.
Oklahoma State 49, Arkansas 48 - 11:45 left
The Hogs are on a 10-0 run and back to within a point thanks to Daryl Macon's seven second half points. He has seven points in Arkansas' current spurt and a game-high 20 for the day.
Anton Beard, who's been battling a right foot injury since last week, also got a tough layup to go, plus the foul. He missed the free throw, but continues to show bring toughness and leadership (despite shooting a 3 off the side of the backboard earlier in the game).
Oklahoma State 49, Arkansas 38 - 15:54 left
The Cowboys are keeping Arkansas at arms length so far this half.
Mitchell Solomon has four points since the break, giving him eight for the game. Arkansas has opened the second half 2 of 7 from the floor and 0 of 2 from distance. It's a rarity when Arkansas comes up with a stop defensively.
Oklahoma State 40, Arkansas 32 - Half
Daryl Macon found Trey Thompson at the rim for what looked to be an east layup with under 10 seconds left in the first half. Thompson blew the layup, though, and OSU's Brandon Averette flew down the floor and got an acrobatic layup to fall at the buzzer to set the halftime score.
Macon has a game-high 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting off the bench. Jaylen Barford is the only other Razorback with six or more points. Meanwhile, Lindy Waters has given Arkansas fits today. He's got a team-high 10 for OSU on 3 of 5 shooting and 2 of 4 from deep.
The Cowboys averaged 1.25 points per possession in the first half.
Oklahoma State 35, Arkansas 30 - 3:24 Left first half
Every Oklahoma State player that has played today has scored. Lindy Waters leads the way with seven while Jeffrey Carroll has six on a pair of 3s.
Daniel Gafford picked up his second foul of the game just before the break fighting through an OSU screen. Gafford is 1 of 4 from the floor, and snapped his scoreless streak dating back to Tuesday with a dunk off a feed from Jaylen Barford.
Daryl Macon leads all scorers with 11 points on 3 of 4 from distance and Barford has 6.
Oklahoma State 26, Arkansas 21 - 9:01 Left first half
There are few things more fun to watch than Daryl Macon when he's feeling it. And today, he's feeling it.
Macon leads Arkansas with eight points on a pair of huge 3s as Oklahoma State attempted to extend its lead. The Cowboys have led by as many as 13. Macon then added a bucket off an OSU turnover before the timeout.
Oklahoma State 12, Arkansas 8 - 14:12 Left first half
Oklahoma State jumped out to a 9-0 lead early on a Lindy Waters 3 and layup, but Arkansas answered back.
Arkansas opened the game 0 of 2 from the floor with a pair of turnovers. Mike Anderson called for time 3:09 into the game to get Daryl Macon and Dustin Thomas into the game. The Hogs then reeled off eight straight and forced back-to-back turnovers with their frontcourt pressure to ignite the crowd before Jeffrey Carroll hit a 3.
Jaylen Barford later fouled Waters on a 3. He'll be at the line when play resumes.
Pregame
The Razorbacks (14-6, 4-4 SEC) will start with Jaylen Barford, Anton Beard, Darious Hall, Adrio Bailey and Daniel Gafford for the third consecutive game.
Oklahoma State (13-7, 3-5 Big 12) is beginning the game with Lindy Waters, Brandon Averette, Jeffrey Carroll, Mitchell Solomon and Yankuba Sima. The Cowboys will be without two of their top three scorers in Kendall Smith (flu) and Tavarius Shine (wrist).