Arkansas beats top 10 team on road for first time in 15 years

Arkansas guard Moses Moody (5) reacts after making a three-point shot during a game against Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, in Columbia, Mo. (Zach Bland, Missouri Athletics via SEC Pool)

The University of Arkansas and Missouri split basketball games for the fifth consecutive season, but with a twist.

For the first time, the split happened with each team winning on the road.

Arkansas beat No. 10 Missouri 86-81 in overtime on Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo., to avenge an 81-68 loss to the Tigers on Jan. 2 in Walton Arena.

The previous four seasons Arkansas and Missouri beat each other in home games.

It was Arkansas’ first road victory over a top 10-ranked team since 2006 when the Razorbacks won 73-69 at No. 10 Tennessee.

Arkansas also beat a top 25 team for the first time in Eric Musselman’s two seasons as coach. The Razorbacks had been 0-4 against ranked teams under Musselman, including their loss to Missouri earlier this season when the Tigers were No. 12.

“We knew that this game was going to carry a lot of weight because of where they’re ranked and where their NET is,” Musselman said, referring to Missouri being No. 35 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings with Arkansas at No. 26. “And we just felt like we played so bad against Missouri at our place.

“I think our guys grasped some of the adjustments and did a good job executing against a really good team.”

Senior forward Justin Smith, who missed the first Arkansas-Missouri game recovering from ankle surgery, led the Razorbacks this time around with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Smith hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left in overtime to clinch the victory and make the Razorbacks 23 of 26 from the line for the game.

Arkansas took an 82-81 lead on freshman guard Davonte Davis’ layup with 35 seconds left in overtime on an assist from Moses Moody on a pick-and-roll play.

“Look, we had not run one pick-and-roll with Moses handling the ball,” Musselman said. “When we needed a basket, I put him in pick-and-roll for the first time all year. And that’s growth in his game.”

Missouri briefly regained the lead 83-82 — at least on the scoreboard — when officials called goal-tending on Arkansas guard Jalen Tate, which credited a basket to Dru Smith with 21.4 seconds left.

But after a replay review, officials determined the block was clean and waved off the basket.

Desi Sills had secured the rebound for Arkansas, but by rule it was called a dead ball and jump ball situation, with the possession arrow keeping the ball with Missouri.

“Quite frankly, I thought we got the rebound and it was going to be ours,” Musselman said. “That rule has got to be probably discussed at a later time, because it’s a tough call.”

The Razorbacks still got possession without Missouri scoring when Moody stole the ball from Dru Smith, was fouled by Parker Braun and hit two free throws with 13.6 seconds left for an 84-81 Arkansas lead.

Xavier Pinson, who led Missouri with 23 points, attempted a three-pointer with four seconds left closely guarded by Davis and the ball didn’t hit the goal.

“That certainly wasn’t the shot we were looking for,” Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin said. “If he had a clean shot, shoot it, but I don’t think that was a clean look.”

Justin Smith got the rebound and gave the Razorbacks a five-point lead to end any Missouri comeback hopes.

“We came into this game knowing that we could really beat this team,” said Arkansas sophomore forward Connor Vanover, who had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. “The way things turned out back in Fayetteville, we didn’t play very good, but we still had plenty of opportunities.

“We just came together and said, ‘Hey, today we’re going to bring it back to them,’ and that’s what we did.”

Arkansas, which played its first overtime game since an 83-79 loss at Missouri last season, led 71-66 Saturday with 2:54 left in regulation after Vanover made a jump hook.

Braun hit a layup with nine seconds left in regulation to tie the game 73-73, then blocked a shot by Davis at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

“Our huddle, we weren’t deflated going into overtime,” Musselman said. “I’ve been in a lot of those [games] where teams just kind of get deflated and start thinking about woulda, coulda, shoulda.

“What happened? Why are we in overtime? One more stop or one more rebound. But this is a really fun group to coach. It’s a group that continues to form chemistry.”

Moody, a freshman guard who had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots, said the Razorbacks weren’t down about going to overtime.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Moody said. “They had a run at the end of regulation, hit two great shots. They outhustled us.

“We could have looked at that and just been like, ‘Ah, man, they’re hype and we’re down.’ But we took that as they punked us, so now we have to retaliate. And that’s what we did in overtime.”

The Razorbacks extended their SEC winning streak to six games and beat a ranked team for the first time since Feb. 2, 2019, when they won 90-89 at No. 19 LSU.

Tate, a senior, added 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Davis had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals and Sills, a junior guard, had 8 points and 4 rebounds.

Missouri 6-10 senior Jeremiah Tilmon — who had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the teams’ first meeting this season — missed Saturday’s game because of a death in his family.

Mitchell Smith, a 6-10 fifth-year senior from Van Buren, started in Tilmon’s place and had eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 4:38 left in overtime.

The Tigers (13-5, 6-5) lost their second home game, along with a 73-53 loss to Tennessee in the SEC opener.

Arkansas won at Missouri for the first time since beating the Tigers 94-61 on Jan. 12, 2016, and ended a four-game losing streak in Mizzou Arena.

“We just knew that we had it,” Vanover said. “We just stayed solid. We never got down even at halftime [when Missouri led 35-31].

“We knew that one, two quick easy baskets can give us the lead back again. So it’s just in our DNA not to let things get us down. Just to always stay in it.”