Big effort: Jones, Joe fuel comeback as Razorbacks beat Hoosiers

Arkansas guard Mason Jones (15) reacts as he leaves the court after beating Indiana 71-64 in an NCAA college basketball game in Bloomington, Ind., Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019. A (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Seventy years after first trying to win a road game against a Big Ten opponent, the University of Arkansas basketball team finally got it done on Sunday night.

The Razorbacks rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to beat Indiana 71-64 before an announced crowd of 14,892 at Assembly Hall.

Indiana's fans left in stunned silence while dozens of Arkansas fans on hand called the Hogs in celebration.

The Razorbacks (11-1) had been 0-7 in road games against Big Ten teams, including 0-2 at Indiana, where they ended last season with a 63-60 loss in the NIT.

Arkansas first played Big Ten teams on the road during the 1949-50 season when they lost 65-53 at Illinois and 75-50 at Indiana.

"It's a real big win," said sophomore guard Isaiah Joe, who led the Razorbacks with 24 points. "To be able to bring this win back to Fayetteville, you have to cherish moments like these."

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Joe and junior guard Mason Jones, who had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, led a 19-3 run by the Razorbacks over the final 7:49.

"Those two guys feed off of each other," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said.

Jones hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Razorbacks a 67-62 lead with 2:02 left. Then Joe closed the game out by hitting 4 of 4 free throws in the final 27.3 seconds.

Indiana (11-2) looked to be pulling away with a 50-39 lead with 16:41 left after Justin Smith hit two free throws, but the Razorbacks kept chipping away at the deficit.

"In the huddles, there wasn't any panic," Musselman said. "I probably got on the guys less tonight than I have all year. At halftime [when Indiana led 38-33] I got on them less. We were more calm in all of our huddles.

"I thought they were giving great effort. I thought if we just hung around and tried to get [other[ guys on their roster to take shots instead of some of the guys that were hurting us that maybe the tide could change if we knocked down two threes."

That's exactly what happened.

The Razorbacks hit 8 of 17 three-pointers in the second half -- with Joe 4 of 10 and Jones 3 of 6 -- and the Hoosiers struggled to get the ball into 6-9 freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis after he scored 16 points in the first half.

Joe hit four consecutive three-pointers after starting 2 of 10 from the field to pull Arkansas with 52-50.

"It felt like everything I threw up was going to go in," Joe said. "I'm a shooter, so I'm going to keep shooting the ball no matter what. I started off cold, but make one or miss, I'm going to do what a shooter does and I'm going to shoot it.

"This isn't the first game where I've started cold. I still didn't end up with the best percentage, but I'm going to shoot the ball regardless."

Joe finished 7 of 20 from the field and 6 of 17 on three-pointers. Jones hit 8 of 17 shots, including 4 of 9 three-pointers.

"You're playing against some really good shooters and some guys that can really stretch the floor and put you on islands," Indiana Coach Archie Miller said. "And inevitably they made some timely ones to not only hang in, they also made some big ones to go up and give them some confidence."

While Joe and Jones carried the offense, Adrio Bailey and Reggie Chaney helped hold Jackson-Davis to four points in the second half.

Jackson-Davis, who led the Hoosiers with 20 points, was 2 of 3 from the field in the second half after being 8 of 11 in the first half.

Musselman put the 6-6 Bailey and 6-8 Chaney on Jackson-Davis in the second half after 6-3 Jimmy Whitt guarded him most of the first half.

"I thought Adrio and Reggie did a phenomenal job of just trying to limit his touches," Musselman said. "We wanted their perimeter players to get as many shots up as we could."

Jackson-Davis, who knew the Razorbacks by their numbers rather than their names, praised Arkansas' defensive switch.

"First and foremost, give them credit for the second half adjustment," Jackson-Davis said. "In the first half, they had whoever No. 33 is [Whitt], probably 6'3", guarding me.

"In the second half they had No. 2 [Bailey], who was a lot bigger, stronger guarding me. So, I thought that was a good adjustment by them."

Arkansas held Indiana to 10-of-27 shooting in the second half, including 3 of 13 on three-pointers.

"I think they just did a better job guarding it the second half than they did in the first," Hoosiers senior guard Devonte Green said.

Indiana hit 9 of 18 free throws after coming into the game leading the nation in makes (19.6) and attempts (27.9) per game.

"We did a good job of defending without fouling," Musselman said. "That was a huge key."

Arkansas sophomore guard Desi Sills had 10 points and five rebounds, and Whitt had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Bailey shot 1 of 6 from the field, but had a team-high 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots while Chaney had 6 points and 4 rebounds.

"They did amazing," Jones said of Bailey and Chaney's defense. "The change that Coach Muss did on that was incredible.

"It's so good to see Adrio and Reggie playing impactful minutes, and it's good to see them having fun out there and helping us win."

Joe said the Razorbacks were able to regroup after struggling the first four minutes of the second half.

"We just had to keep our heads and stay poised," Joe said. "Because when a lot of teams get down like that, they'll start to fold and give up.

"Coach Musselman's done a great job of making us mentally tough over the summer and throughout these games. So we're just building our team, building our culture, and our culture is to stay in the game not matter if we're up or down."

Jones said Bailey, a senior and only Razorback who has been in the program for four years, took a strong leadership role in the second half.

"Adrio was leading the charge on the talking in the huddle, and Coach Muss didn't really do a lot of talking," Jones said. "Adrio was like, 'Let's get it done. We know what need to do and we've been here before.' So we wanted to come out with a W."

Jones smiled when asked about being on the team that got Arkansas' first Big Ten road victory.

"Oh, it feels good," Jones said. "We need to grow this momentum and just get back to work."

Sports on 12/30/2019