SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL MISSOURI 79, ARKANSAS 78

Thrown away: Errant pass thwarts Hogs’ comeback

Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson, left, comforts player Gabe Osabuohien, right, after they lost 79-78 to Missouri in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Arkansas fought back from a nearly game-long deficit Tuesday, but the Razorbacks had possession with 10 seconds left and a chance to put a dagger into Missouri.

Arkansas ended up with a dud.

Point guard Jalen Harris drove to the left elbow in the closing seconds but was stopped on a switch by 6-10 Jeremiah Tilmon. Harris lofted an off-balance pass for Daniel Gafford that was tipped by 6-6 guard Ronnie Suggs and wound up in Tilmon's hands as the buzzer sounded.

Missouri, which has blown a series of leads in league play, finally found one it could protect to seize a 79-78 victory before an estimated crowd of 9,489 at Mizzou Arena.

Arkansas (14-10, 5-6) lost its second in a row on the road after reeling off four consecutive conference victories.

"We've been in these games all year long," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Tonight, the ball didn't bounce our way."

Missouri (12-11, 3-8) avoided having another late meltdown that has characterized its season. It was the Tigers' second victory in seven games.

Harris gave Gafford a perfect lob for a dunk on the Razorbacks' previous possession to cut their deficit to one point with 11.4 seconds left. Arkansas' final chance was set up when Harris drew a push-off foul from Missouri guard Xavier Pinson against a full-court press.

"We wanted to get a foul or get to the basket, get one of our shooters coming from behind there," Anderson said of the last play. "We just didn't get anything."

The Razorbacks, trailing by as many as 13 points early in the second half, made a late push.

A pair of three-point plays by Gafford and a long-range three-pointer from Isaiah Joe capped a 9-4 run by the Hogs and cut their deficit to 74-72 with 2:56 left.

But Suggs, Pinson and Tilmon hit big shots down the stretch for Missouri, which had blown big leads against LSU, Arkansas and others in conference play.

"We've got to come out stronger," said Gafford, who scored a game-high 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting. "This game, we started playing the basketball we needed to too late.

"Missouri came out and played with a lot of emotion. We beat them early on in the year. But they came out and they didn't want to lose this time."

Harris hit four consecutive free throws on back-to-back possessions, but the Tigers countered with Tilmon's easy lay-in on a pass over Gafford from Kevin Puryear.

Jordan Geist's free throw with 21.6 seconds remaining gave Missouri a 79-76 lead.

Arkansas came out of a timeout with 17.8 seconds remaining, and Harris fed Gafford for a dunk to make it 79-78.

Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin tried to head off another lob play on the final possession.

"We switched it so Tilmon held up the guard, and Ronnie did a good job just standing strong against Gafford," Martin said. "That worked out well."

Missouri outrebounded the Hogs 39-33 and beat them 21-16 in second-chance points. The Tigers did most of that offensive rebounding damage in the first half with 12 for 14 second-chance points.

"That was big, big," Anderson said. "I thought that was the difference in the game. They got second-chance points in the first half."

Gafford agreed.

"Like Coach said, they had 15 boards at one point in time and they were getting all putbacks off of them," he said. "We weren't boxing out."

Arkansas' Joe overtook Rotnei Clarke's school record for three-pointers by a freshman. The 6-5 guard hit four three-pointers to reach 86 for the season. He scored 17 points, and Mason Jones added 12 for the Razorbacks.

Tilmon led the Tigers with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Missouri's Geist chipped in 18 points, including 4-of-11 shooting from three-point range.

Missouri split the season series, which has been played twice every year since 2012-13, for the third consecutive season and the fourth time overall.

The Tigers improved to 2-4 in SEC home games, rebounding from a 68-59 loss at Mizzou Arena on Saturday against Texas A&M.

Arkansas scored on its first couple of possessions with nice post work from Gafford, but the Tigers kept pace with matching shots by Tilmon and Puryear, then took a 7-4 lead on Geist's three-pointer at the 18:09 mark.

Missouri would lead the rest of the way.

The Tigers built their first double-figure lead at 20-10 on another Geist's three-pointer at the 12:50 mark. A Mason Jones jumper cut the Hogs' deficit to eight, but the Tigers answered with consecutive three-pointers by Javon Pickett and Geist to build their largest lead of the half at 26-12.

The Razorbacks made some inroads on the deficit during a brief stretch just past the midway point of the half. Adrio Bailey dunked on a feed from Harris, and Joe broke the Hogs' 0 for 8 streak from three-point range by cashing in on a Harris pass. Bailey scored on a reverse layup to cut Missouri's lead to 30-24 at the 7:26 mark.

But that's where the surge ended, as Harris picked up his second foul on a charging call moments later and sat out the rest of the half.

The Razorbacks went 1 of 11 from three-point range in the opening half, while Missouri was 6 of 15 from that distance.

Game sketch

RECORDS Arkansas 14-10, 5-6 SEC;

Missouri 12-11, 3-8

STARS Missouri sophomore forward Jeremiah Tilmon (21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) and senior guard Jordan Geist (18 points, 5 rebounds). Arkansas sophomore forward Daniel Gafford (26 points, 8 rebounds) and freshman guard Isaiah Joe (17 points).

TURNING POINT The Tigers got a stop on the game’s final possession when Ronnie Suggs knocked away a Jalen Harris pass intended for Gafford.

KEY STAT Missouri hit 9 of 26 three-point shots compared to Arkansas’ 5 of 20.

UP NEXT Arkansas plays Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Sports on 02/13/2019