FAYETTEVILLE -- When Mason Jones had to make a free throw, he did. When Jones had to miss a free throw, he did that, too.
The University of Arkansas sophomore guard hit a free throw with 2.5 seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to a 73-72 victory over Indiana on Sunday in Walton Arena before an announced crowd of 12,979.
After Jones hit the first free throw to give Arkansas the lead, Indiana Coach Archie Miller called his final timeout.
Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson instructed Jones to miss his second attempt so the clock wouldn't stop and give Indiana time to attempt a basket that could win or tie the game.
"The second shot, Coach A told me to make sure it was a good miss," Jones said. "I didn't know it was going to be that good of a miss."
Jones hit the rim, the ball rolled around and when Indiana forward Juwan Morgan got the rebound he only had time for an 80-foot desperation heave that fell well short of the basket.
"It's amazing," Anderson said. " I've been harping about guys making free throws, and that was probably the greatest miss in my tenure."
After the Hoosiers tied the game 72-72 on Rob Phinisee's three-pointer with 48 seconds left and Arkansas forward Adrio Bailey missed a jump shot with 21 seconds left, Indiana had two shots to take the lead.
But Phinisee missed on a driving attempt and De'Ron Davis missed a putback attempt. Jones got the rebound and Davis was called for fouling him trying to steal the ball. The play was in front of the Hoosiers' bench.
"I don't know if he fouled him or not," Indiana Coach Archie Miller said. "But I know it's a tough call."
Jones had a different take.
"I got hit in my face," Jones said. "To me, I got fouled. It was probably 50-50 to [to Miller], but I got hit."
Sophomore forward Daniel Gafford led Arkansas (2-1) with a career-high 27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals.
"Daniel Gafford was a really, really tough handle for us today," Miller said. "He pretty much neutralized the game at any point in time, and he was dominant."
Gafford hit 12 of 15 shots from the field and 3 of 8 free throws.
"What can you say about Daniel?" Anderson said. "He played his tail off on both ends of the floor."
Freshman guard Romeo Langford led Indiana (3-1) with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Langford's three-pointer with 5:01 left put the Hoosiers ahead 66-65 after Arkansas had led 51-41.
But the Razorbacks were able to keep their poise. Gafford said the team with nine newcomers learned from a 73-71 overtime loss to Texas to open the season.
"The main thing we had to do was just stay calm," Gafford said. "In the Texas game we panicked even though we were up. We just let everything fall apart instead of staying together as a team.
"But this was a team win because [Indiana] came back, they took the lead ... and what we did was come together as a team.
"If we play together we can pull out any kind of win."
The game had nine lead changes and eight ties.
"Every time we made a run, they were answered," Anderson said. "The beauty of it is I thought we answered them as well."
Arkansas freshman guard Isaiah Joe scored 13 points. Jones had 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds without a turnover in 38 minutes.
Morgan, a senior forward, scored 15 points for the Hoosiers -- all in the second half. He played just three minutes in the first half after drawing two fouls.
"I'll take responsibility for that," Morgan said. "Just getting those two quick fouls, I wasn't able to be that voice out there on the court.
"I think it was a lot of guys' first time in a hostile environment. I have to do a better job trying to stay on the floor and rally everybody together."
Texas' Kerwin Roach hit a three-pointer with a second left in regulation against Arkansas to send the game into overtime.
"We really felt hurt that we lost that game," Jones said. "It was a game we should have won, and we didn't want that to happen again [Sunday]. We just wanted to pick up the win and finish this game."
Indiana came into Walton Arena after beating No. 24 Marquette 96-73 at home on Thursday night -- an outcome that added to the value of Arkansas' victory over the Hoosiers.
"Tough, tough hard-fought game," Miller said. "Give Arkansas credit. I thought they played very good."
Jones said he was anxious to get back to the free throw line with game tied and 2.5 seconds left after he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity at the 1:01 mark with the Razorbacks leading 72-69.
"I knew the next shot I was going to be able to make it," Jones said. "I love the pressure."
Sports on 11/19/2018