FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman Jaylin Williams scored 10 of his season-high 13 points during a decisive run and No. 20 Arkansas beat sixth-ranked Alabama 81-66 on Wednesday night.
It was the Razorbacks' first win at home over a ranked team in three years.
Williams keyed the 17-2 run that turned a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead with less than 10 minutes to play. He was one of five Arkansas players to finish in double figures for Arkansas (18-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference). Justin Smith scored 11, Jalen Tate and J.D Notae had 12 apiece and Moses Moody led all scorers with 24, 16 of which came from the free-throw line.
Alabama (18-6, 13-2) managed only the two points during that stretch, a John Petty Jr. jumper, for a span of 8:53.
Arkansas’ run provided too much frustration. Petty was charged with a technical foul after appearing to argue a no-foul call with 6:55 left. The Razorbacks would build their lead to 16 less than two minutes later, forcing an Alabama timeout. Petty would be ejected after picking up another technical with 1:01 left.
Alabama ran hot and cold the whole game. The Crimson Tide missed their first nine 3-pointers, but would follow by making eight of their next 10, including the first basket of the second half, giving them their first lead since the opening five minutes of the game.
Jordan Bruner led Alabama with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Petty finished with 12.
The loss snapped Alabama’s winning streak at three games and Arkansas’ win extended its SEC-winning streak to eight.
EARLIER
FINAL — Arkansas takes down Alabama in convincing fashion, 81-66.
A big-time celebration ensued with Eric Musselman and players in front of the Arkansas student section. Moses Moody led all scorers with 24 points on 16 of 19 at the line. Jaylin Williams added 13 points and eight rebounds, Jalen Tate had 12 and Justin Smith 11.
Jordan Bruner led the Crimson Tide with 14 points on 5 of 14 shooting. Jahvon Quinerly added 13 and John Petty 12 before being ejected.
:33.7, 2H — As Alabama is trying to score around the rim off a miss, Moses Moody comes out of nowhere for a block. Jaylin Williams hits two free throws. Arkansas up 15.
:46.7, 2H — Alabama hits a three-pointer to cut their deficit to 11, then Moses Moody is fouled. He hits both. He's got 24 points tonight. Arkansas up 79-66.
1:00, 2H — Moses Moody hits two free throws to push Arkansas’ lead to 76-63. Jahvon Quinerly then misses a pair at the line. Hogs up 13. Now Moody goes back to the line, where he hits one of two.
1:01, 2H — John Petty is hit with a second tech and is ejected after arguing again with an official over a foul call. Jalen Tate then got tossed after picking up his second tech. I have no idea what happened with Tate. Arkansas leads 74-63.
1:06, 2H — JD Notae was fouled and sent to the line, but missed both free throws. Alabama turns the ball over in transition.
1:29, 2H — Alabama hits a corner three to pull within 11. It is the 10th three of the game for the Crimson Tide. Timeout on the floor.
1:45, 2H — Justin Smith with a big dunk as Arkansas looks to wind down the game clock. Arkansas up 14.
3:52, 2H — We’ve hit the final media timeout of the night. Arkansas is up 14. Jalen Tate and Jahvon Quinerly were just called for double techs. Not sure what happened, but must have been jawing in the corner away from the ball.
4:18, 2H — Herb Jones just fouled out for Alabama after a wild loose-ball sequence. Moses Moody is at the line. He hits both. Arkansas’ lead is 72-58.
5:19, 2H — JD Notae with a big, big three-ball to put Arkansas up 70-54. Notae has 12 points. This has been his best game as a Razorback.
6:05, 2H — JD Notae drives and stops on a dime, hitting a midrange jumper. He then grabs a loose ball and gets fouled in transition. Notae hits one of two, and Arkansas’ lead is 67-54.
6:34, 2H — Moses Moody splits the pair at the line. Arkansas' lead is 10. Hogs are in the bonus the rest of the way.
6:35, 2H — John Petty has been hit with a tech for arguing with an official over a foul he thought he should have been granted at the rim. He might have a case, but there was no whistle. Moses Moody will likely be at the line when play resumes to shoot two free throws. Arkansas leads 63-54.
8:31, 2H — Moses Moody shot faked Keon Ellis off his feet in the left corner and drew a whistle. Moody hit both free throws. Arkansas up 58-52. Moody then hits a transition three from the left wing. Hogs up nine.
8:48, 2H — Alabama has clawed back within 56-52 in a flash thanks to a layup and a three from Jahvon Quinerly. JD Notae is about to check in for Desi Sills.
9:44, 2H — Devo Davis picks up his fourth foul. Tough, tough whistle. Desi Sills enters the lineup.
10:38, 2H — Justin Smith with a dunk assisted by Jalen Tate out of the media timeout. Arkansas leads by nine, 56-47.
10:59, 2H — We just watched the most intense, toughest stretch of Arkansas basketball in a long, long time. Jaylin Williams and Moses Moody are diving on the floor for loose balls that turn into a dunk for Justin Smith that blew the roof off Bud Walton Arena. Williams then buried a free throw line jumper. Arkansas leads 54-47. If there were 20,000 people in this building, I’d be deaf.
13:49, 2H — Devo Davis and Jalen Tate each picked up their third foul in about a five-second span. Meanwhile, Jaylin Williams is playing like a grown man on the interior.
14:45, 2H — Following a crazy scramble for the ball in which Moses Moody couldn’t get a shot up in the lane, Jaylin Williams wound up with the ball at the top of the key late in the shot clock and threw up a three and got fouled. He hit two of three to give Arkansas a 48-47 lead.
15:17, 2H — Alabama leads 47-46 at the first media timeout of the second half. Razorbacks responded well after falling behind by six. Jaylin Williams has a pair of post-up scores in the last couple of minutes. They’re intentional, and the freshman is delivering. Williams has six points in this half. Jordan Bruner is up to 14 points for Alabama and John Petty has 12. Moses Moody has 11 points and three assists, and Jalen Tate has 12.
17:11, 2H — Devo Davis, out of the timeout, created off the bounce and found Jaylin Williams for a layup at the rim. Williams then adds a post-up score over John Petty. Hogs down 45-43.
18:07, 2H — Alabama opens the second half on a 7-0 run and leads 45-39. Eric Musselman calls for time. That may be the last we see of Connor Vanover tonight. Need another mobile forward on the floor. Jaden Shackelford hit a three, and Joshua Primo and Jordan Bruner added layups. Arkansas has opened 0 of 4 shooting and 0 of 2 from deep.
19:30, 2H — Jaden Shackelford gives Alabama its first lead of the night with a deep three from the left wing. The Crimson Tide then quickly add a layup in transition. Alabama up four.
HALF – Jordan Bruner’s four three-pointers got the Crimson Tide back in this game. He hit a fallaway three at the buzzer to cut Arkansas’ halftime lead to 39-38. He has 12 points, John Petty has 10. Crimson Tide hit 7 of 17 from deep. Alabama hit 7 of its last 9 threes after an 0 of 9 start.
Jalen Tate had a great half. He scored a team-high 12 points on 5 of 5 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and blocked three shots. Moses Moody had 10 points. JD Notae pitched in six points, but Arkansas was outscored by 11 when he was on the floor, per StatBroadcast. Ethan Henderson was solid in his eight minutes. He finished with two rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
:26, 1H — JD Notae has no conscious. He took two threes on the last possession, missing the first then burying the second after an Ethan Henderson offensive rebound. Arkansas went up four going into a timeout.
:54, 1H — Jordan Bruner with another three-pointer. Alabama down 36-32. Jalen Tate is making life hard on John Petty on ball screens, but Petty made the right play there, and Ethan Henderson couldn’t get out to him in time. Bruner then hits another triple. Hogs up 1.
2:17, 1H — Justin Smith was fouled and went to the line, where he missed a pair. Jalen Tate was hit with a foul on the rebound and sent Alabama to the line. The Crimson Tide missed the front end of a 1-and-1, which led to a JD Notae bucket in transition plus the foul. Arkansas leads 36-29. Ethan Henderson back in for the final stretch of the half.
2:47, 1H — Ethan Henderson blocked a Jordan Bruner layup out of bounds. He got subbed out for Connor Vanover, who then gave up a wide open three-ball to Bruner in the corner. Arkansas leads 33-29.
3:33, 1H — Herbert Jones took Justin Smith off the bounce for a layup to cut the Alabama deficit to five. Jalen Tate then answered with a high-arcing short midrange jumper.
3:46, 1H — Ethan Henderson added a layup for his sixth score of the season. His last two buckets have come against Alabama. Arkansas up 31-24 at the under-4 timeout. John Petty just hit the Crimson Tide’s third three-pointer of the game and let the Arkansas student section know about it. Petty has 10 points on 3 of 4 shooting.
5:15, 1H — Ethan Henderson has brought some major energy to the floor. He blocked a shot out of bounds and grabbed a big defensive rebound. Jalen Tate split a pair of free throws and Arkansas leads 29-19. Tate and Moses Moody each have 10 points. Tate also has three rebounds and three blocks.
7:24, 1H — Moses Moody dribbled to the left short corner with James Rojas defending, shot faked him and drew contact. He made both free throws. Arkansas up 25-16.
7:59, 1H — JD Notae with another solid play, this time on offense. He split an Alabama double team on the perimeter, got near the foul line and hit Jalen Tate for a tough layup. Arkansas leads 23-16 at the under-8 timeout. Tate has seven points on 3 of 3 from the floor, and Moses Moody has eight. Juwan Gary has five to lead the Crimson Tide. Defensively, Arkansas is taking Jahvon Quinerly’s right hand away and it’s giving him some fits. Alabama is shooting 30% so far — 1 of 10 from deep.
9:51, 1H — Alabama hits its first three of the night and pulls within 21-14. Herb Jones then adds a dunk on the other end off a Moses Moody miss from three. Just like that it’s a five-point game.
10:28, 1H — Great crowd tonight, and the Razorbacks are giving them reason to be rowdy. Arkansas leads 21-11 at the under-12 timeout. JD Notae drew an offensive foul on the perimeter to send us to the break. Great defensive sequence from him. Crimson Tide are 0 of 9 from three. Moses Moody has a game-high eight points, and Devo Davis and Jalen Tate each have five.
11:05, 1H — Justin Smith drives baseline and hits Connor Vanover for a dunk. Razorbacks lead 21-9. They had a chance to go up 14, but Justin Smith’s fastbreak layup was blocked off the glass and Alabama answered with a putback dunk in transition.
12:25, 1H — Arkansas led by as much as nine, but Alabama answered with a pair of layups. Then Moses Moody hits a three and gets fouled. He hits the free throw. Arkansas up 19-9.
14:02, 1H — Devo Davis picked up two fouls in one second. He will have to sit a while now. Razorbacks’ lead is 14-6 after Jalen Tate driving layup.
14:47, 1H — Devo Davis made the free throw to make it 9-6 Arkansas. Jalen Tate then added an and-1 off a nice find by Moses Moody. Razorbacks up 12-6. Alabama now 0 of 7 from deep.
15:20, 1H — Arkansas leads 8-6 at the first media timeout. Devo Davis has been awesome so far. He and Moses Moody each have four points. Davis will be at the line when play resumes. He grabbed a rebound, got on the break and showed deal of patience before finding a crease and getting to the rim for a layup. Crimson Tide are 0 of 5 from three-point range.
17:05, 1H — Alabama with three team fouls in the opening three minutes. Justin Smith badly missed a midrange jumper on the right side of the floor, but Moses Moody rebounded it and got fouled on the way up. He hits both free throws. We’re tied 4-4.
17:27, 1H — Arkansas has been a little sloppy to start the game. Three turnovers so far and the last one led to a pair of free throws for John Petty. Alabama up 4-2. Jaylin Williams has entered the game for Connor Vanover. The 7-3 forward missed a left-handed hook shot a moment ago.
18:27, 1H — Joshua Primo gets Alabama on the board with a layup. Jordan Bruner credited with the assist.
19:33, 1H — Devo Davis opened the night with a midrange jumper. Arkansas wanted Justin Smith on a post-up on the left block, didn’t get it, then Moses Moody couldn’t get off a jumper. Davis was calm and collected and buried the jumper.
Pregame
Arkansas’ starting lineup: Jalen Tate, Moses Moody, Davonte Davis, Justin Smith and Connor Vanover.
This is the fifth straight start for this group. It has outscored opposing teams 103-79 in the last seven SEC games and limited them to 41.2% shooting inside the arc, according to HoopLens.
The Razorbacks enter the first AP Top 25 matchup in Bud Walton Arena since 1998 winners of seven consecutive games in league play dating back to their previous meeting with Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Arkansas has scored at a 1.03 point-per-possession rate and held opponents to .90 PPP in that span.
Moody is averaging a team-high 15.7 points in conference games, and Tate is second at 12.5. Tate has 55 assists and a team-leading 23 steals. Valuing possession will be big for him tonight. He had six turnovers in the teams’ first meeting. Moody added 28 points in the 31-point loss.
Arkansas has allowed SEC teams to shoot 34.1% from three-point range. Safe to say its perimeter defense will be vital in this game. Keeping the Crimson Tide off the offensive glass is another key.
Alabama’s starters: Jaden Shackelford, John Petty, Herb Jones, Joshua Primo and Jordan Bruner.
The Crimson Tide need one win to grab at least a share of the SEC regular season title. They come into tonight 13-1 in the league, with their only loss coming at Missouri on Feb. 6.
More than 47% of Alabama’s shots are threes. That is the highest rate in the SEC, and it has shot better from deep on the road (42.4%) than in home games (37.1%). The Crimson Tide have not lost a road game in the league when they have knocked down 10-plus threes. They made nine at Missouri.
While defending the three-point shot is an obvious must for Arkansas, Alabama takes lots of shots in the lane, too. It has made nearly 57% in home games, but 43% on the road. The Razorbacks need to continue that trend.
The Crimson Tide have taken only 26 shots in their last 10 SEC games that were neither a three or in the painted area.