Yes, this Arkansas team can go on the road and win a game.
With a 19-3 run over the last 7:49 of the game, the Razorbacks found a way to pull out a 71-64 win over Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., on Sunday night and finished the early non-conference part of the schedule at 11-1.
And they did all that after figuring out a way to combat the Hoosiers’ size advantage and inside dominance, plus Isaiah Joe and Mason Jones got hot from the outside.
Joe going 4-of-4 at the free-throw line in the final minute also sealed any chance of Indiana finding a way to come back late.
The Hogs trailed by 11 with 16:41 to play before clawing their way back into the game by forcing the Hoosiers to keep turning the ball over. They didn’t help their cause by going just 9-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Joe led Arkansas with 24 points, but it was back-to-back 3-pointers by Jones with less than three minutes to play that opened a 67-62 lead and they held it the rest of the way. Jones had 21 for the game.
Indiana guard Al Durham, averaging 12.2 points a game coming in, got thrown out with 7:18 to go in the first half for throwing an elbow that landed flush on Adrio Bailey’s mouth.
Instant replay showed what none of the officials saw live, a Flagrant 2 foul. Hogs coach Eric Musselman had pushed for a review because apparently nobody noticed it as it was away from the ball.
The Hoosiers could have used Durham the rest of the way.
Desi Sills scored 10 points for the Hogs before fouling out late. Arkansas was 25-of-62 from the field and 12-of-31 on 3-pointers.
Joe (6), Jones (4) and Sills (2) accounted for all of Arkansas’ made 3-pointers.
It was the second time Arkansas had beaten Indiana over the last two seasons, winning a one-point nailbiter in Fayetteville last November before losing in the NIT.
Now it’s on to the SEC schedule and it starts with Texas A&M on Saturday at 6 p.m. at a sold-out Bud Walton Arena.
And the Hogs will do it coming off a hot non-conference start to the season.
