Dominic Fletcher on being mobbed by teammates after walk-off hit to give Hogs 7-6 win Sunday.
Arkansas opens play at Querencia Cabo Collegiate
LOS CABOS, Mexico — No. 19 Arkansas opened play in the 2018 Querencia Cabo Collegiate on Sunday and posted a 12-over 292 to sit tied for 11th at Querencia Golf Club.
In a loaded field that features 11 of the top 30 teams in the country, the Razorbacks are tied with No. 2 Vanderbilt and lead No. 5 Baylor and No. 14 Wake Forest. Top-ranked Oklahoma State has a five-shot lead on the field at 8-under, while No. 13 California is the only other team in red figures at 3-under.
In the field of 80 players, senior Alvaro Ortiz is tied for the most birdies with seven and leads Arkansas after a 1-over 72 in the opening round. He rolled in three straight birdies on the back nine and had a stretch of four birdies in a five-hole span.
Sophomore Mason Overstreet had a stellar back nine with a 4-under 31, including three straight birdies, but back-to-back double bogeys on the front side left him at 2-over for the tournament and T-26th overall.
Sophomore Luis Garza signed for a 3-over 74 after recording three birdies and six bogeys. He played the final seven holes at 1-under and enters the second T-41st overall.
William Buhl is T-61st overall at 6-over, while Tyson Reeder and Landon Ernst are T-69th at 8-over for the championship.
Arkansas returns to the course Monday morning, teeing off at 10 a.m. CT at Querencia Golf Club. Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com or via the Golfstat Live app.
For more information on Arkansas men’s golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
Razorback Lineup Day 1 Results
| Place | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| T26. | Alvaro Ortiz | 72 (+1) |
| T34. | Mason Overstreet | 73 (+2) |
| T41. | Luis Garza | 74 (+3) |
| T61. | William Buhl | 77 (+6) |
| T69. | Tyson Reeder | 79 (+8) |
| T69. (IND) | Landon Ernst | 79 (+8) |
Querencia Cabo Collegiate Day 1 Team Results
| Place | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | No. 1 Oklahoma State | 276 (-8) |
| 2. | No. 13 California | 281 (-3) |
| 3. | No. 29 Arizona State | 285 (+1) |
| 4. | No. 15 Texas | 286 (+2) |
| 5. | No. 20 Florida State | 287 (+3) |
| 6. | Rice | 288 (+4) |
| 7. | Duke | 289 (+5) |
| 8. | No. 17 Stanford | 290 (+6) |
| 9. | Ole Miss | 291 (+7) |
| 10. | No. 23 South Florida | 293 (+9) |
| T11. | No. 19 Arkansas | 296 (+12) |
| T11. | No. 2 Vanderbilt | 296 (+12) |
| 13. | Houston | 297 (+13) |
| 14. | No. 5 Baylor | 299 (+15) |
| 15. | No. 14 Wake Forest | 309 (+25) |
Hogs come from behind for walk-off win over USC
FAYETTEVILLE — After not being penciled into the starting lineup Sunday at Baum Stadium, sophomore Dominic Fletcher was still ready for his late-inning pinch-hit appearance.
He drilled a walk-off bases-loaded RBI up the middle to give fifth-ranked Arkansas a 7-6 victory and series win over USC in eight innings.
Due to travel restrictions for the Trojans, both coaches agreed on not starting an inning after 4 p.m., which resulted in Sunday’s game ending in the eighth inning.
The win is Arkansas’ (9-3) first walk-off win of the year and seventh victory at home in eight games. The Hogs trailed 5-1 going into the sixth inning, but put up a four-spot in the bottom half of the sixth, benefitting from two hits and two walks, all with two outs.
The Hitting
Three different Razorbacks recorded multi-hit games on Sunday with junior Eric Cole leading the way with a 4-for-5 day, tying a career-high for hits in a game. Cole drove in two runs, both coming in key situations in the sixth and the eighth.
Casey Martin and Grant Koch both came away with two hits apiece. For Koch, it was his second multi-hit game of the series and extended his hitting streak to five games. Martin has hit safely in five-straight games also and is currently hitting .414 on the year, good for best on the team of any players with 25 or more at-bats.
The Pitching
On the mound, junior lefty Kacey Murphy was making his second start of the year, but was not as sharp as he was against Arizona last week. He was able to go four innings on Sunday, scattering five hits, but only gave up one earned run and struck out two on 66 pitches.
Freshman Jackson Rutledge picked up the victory, his first, after throwing a scoreless top of the eighth, allowing just one walk on 17 pitches.
Moments That Mattered
USC doctored up a big four-run fifth inning that pushed it ahead of Arkansas 5-1. The Trojans got three runs from a double by Dillon Paulson and then a single from Matthew Acosta. The fourth run came after a throwing error from Jax Biggers extended the inning and gave USC another run.
The Razorbacks got all four back in the sixth as their two-out approach at the plate paid off, scoring three of the four runs on two-out walks or two-out singles. Cole and Heston Kjerstad each had the RBI hits, while it was Jax Biggers and Luke Bonfield that got the walks to keep the inning alive. Cole scored the tying run on a wild pitch during Bonfield’s at-bat.
Arkansas trailed by one heading into the top of the eighth inning, but got a quick inning out of the bullpen from Rutledge to set up a decisive bottom half of the inning. The eighth inning had started about nine minutes before 4 p.m., so the Razorbacks were down to their last at-bat.
USC had gone to the bullpen themselves to bring in right-hander Connor Lunn to pitch the eighth inning. Lunn had picked up the one-inning save the day before and was looking to do the same today.
Biggers led off the inning with a single, and then Cole drove him in with a triple to left-center to tie the game at 6-6 as Matthew Acosta’s dive attempt came up empty. With the winning run on third and nobody out, Arkansas was able to breathe a little easier with the heart of its order coming up.
The next two batters, Kjerstad and Bonfield, were both intentionally walked to bring up the pinch-hitting Fletcher for his first at-bat of the game. The sophomore smoked a 1-1 pitch back up the middle to easily score Cole and give the Hogs their first walk-off win of the season.
Razorback Quotables
“It was a little bit of a sloppy game, at least on our side, it just felt like that from the get go. Jax (Biggers), for some reason, rushed that play and threw the ball into the ground. We were just thinking, ‘Wow, this not our day.’ We spot them a four-run lead, but the dugout was positive. My message to the players was we got four or five innings left. We don’t have to score four runs in one inning. We just need to chip away a little bit. We punched in a couple of runs in the sixth. Next thing you know, we just keep fighting and then we’re down a run, then they wild pitch us in and it’s tied up. It happened pretty quick.” – Head coach Dave Van Horn on the way his team came back from four runs down
“It was huge. His teammates were really pulling for him to come through. I told him when we came off the field to start the bottom of the eighth I said, ‘If we get to the five hole, you’re hitting, be ready to roll.’ He kept his head in the game the whole game and did a great job with it. He had a really good batting practice inside today. He didn’t try to overswing, he tried to stay through the middle, go the other way, and I just said, ‘Just take that swing that you took in BP today to the game and you’ll be fine.’ He just tried to make contact and didn’t try to hit a home run. He squared it up about as good as you can square it up through middle and I don’t know what it was when it went back through the middle, but it was a lot harder than it came in. The team was really excited for the win, but just as excited for Dominic to get that big hit.” – Head coach Dave Van Horn on Dominic Fletcher’s winning hit
“I knew I would probably have a chance later in the game to get an at-bat if it was the right opportunity, so I just kind of stayed relaxed and cheered for my teammates.” – Dominic Fletcher on not starting, but pinch-hitting at the end of the game
“He (Lunn) was a high spin rate guy, so the ball kind of looked like it was rising on me. First pitch I missed it pretty bad. I kind of told myself I needed to get kind of get on top of the ball. Then, Coach Van Horn gave me bunt. I didn’t get that down, so I kind of really quick had to tell myself ‘So what. Next pitch, I have to get it done this way with the bat.’ He left me a pitch and I was able to put a good swing on it. Thankfully, the outfielder didn’t catch it, so it worked out for us.” – Eric Cole on his RBI triple in the eighth
Up Next
The Razorbacks won’t play again until next weekend when they take on the Kent State Golden Flashes for a three-game series starting on Friday at 3 p.m. Game two will be on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be televised on SEC Network+.
Hogs complete undefeated homestand in tourney
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas registered a pair of one-run wins Sunday to close out the Razorback Invitational at Bogle Park.
The Razorbacks swept through its week-long, seven-game home stand to improve to 16-1 through the first month of the 2018 season.
Freshman pitcher Mary Haff continued her strong week in the circle with a win and a save Sunday while juniors Haydi Bugarin and Ashley Diaz each homered in the game-two victory over Central Connecticut State.
“Overall, I’m happy we were able to grind out two wins today,” coach Courtney Deifel said. “I think our offense pressed a little bit but credit to Northern Colorado and Central Connecticut for keeping us off balance.
“We have some things to work on but any time you can still get those wins and learn more about your team, it’s a valuable experience.”
Up Next
The Razorbacks play their next five games on the road beginning with a Tuesday doubleheader at Wichita State.
The team’s SEC schedule begins next weekend at No. 14 Georgia. The three-game series begins Saturday at 12 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Arkansas returns to Bogle Park on March 16-18 to host the Wooo Pig Classic.
Game 1: Arkansas 1, Northern Colorado 0 | Box Score
Haff pitched a complete-game shutout in the Razorbacks’ first win of the day. She finished the game with six strikeouts and allowed just two hits.
Haff gave up an infield single to the first hitter of the game and then retired 17 of the next 18 Northern Colorado hitters before giving up a two-out single in the sixth.
The Razorbacks took advantage of two errors by the visitors to score the game’s only run in the third.
Senior Loren Krzysko led off the frame with a walk and the bases were loaded with one out after the fielding miscues. Freshman Hannah McEwen lifted a sacrifice fly to left field which allowed Krzysko to score from third and put Arkansas up, 1-0.
Haff made the lead stand up for her ninth win of the season.
Game 2: Arkansas 6, Central Connecticut State 5 | Box Score
CCSU took the early lead in the weekend finale, plating an unearned run in the first inning but the Razorbacks pulled even with a solo shot by Bugarin in the third inning.
The home run was her fourth of the season, surpassing the combined three she hit during her freshman and sophomore seasons.
However, the tie was short lived with the Blue Devils moving ahead 2-1 with a solo home run of their own in the top of the fourth.
Arkansas responded with two runs in the home half of the inning. Pinch runners Keely Edwards and Carley Haizlip crossed the plate thanks to a dropped ball at first and sacrifice fly by Tori Cooper, respectively.
The lead was 3-2 but again, Central Connecticut answered, this time with a two-run homer in the fifth.
After a walk, sophomore Caroline Hedgcock entered the game in relief of starter Autumn Storms. Two ground balls later, the Razorbacks were out of the inning but trailed, 4-3.
Senior Autumn Buczek led off the bottom of the sixth with her second triple of the season and cruised home on an RBI base hit by McEwen.
The freshman outfielder drove in 16 runs during the week-long home stand and leads the team with 29 RBI.
Krzysko laid down a sacrifice bunt to move McEwen into scoring position and on the first pitch from Peyton Silverman, Diaz deposited a two-run blast over the outer gate at Bogle Park for the 6-4 lead.
Diaz’s home run was her third of the season and the 18th of her career which moves her into a tie for 10th on the program’s all-time list.
Arkansas hit 10 home runs in its first week playing at Bogle Park and has now left the yard 25 times this season.
The Blue Devils cut their deficit to one with another unearned run in the sixth. After a strikeout, Hedgcock gave way to Haff who entered the game with two outs in the sixth.
She recorded the final out of the inning and struck out three hitters in the seventh — working around a one-out single — to end the game and pick up her second save of the year.
2018 Razorback Invitational (Sunday Results)
Dartmouth 7, Central Connecticut State 2
Arkansas 1, Northern Colorado 0
Arkansas 6, Central Connecticut State 5
Fassi takes individual honors at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
HILTON HEAD, S. C. — Arkansas junior Maria Fassi finished 3-under par winning her fourth tournament of the season while leading the No. 3 Razorbacks to their best finish at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on Sunday.
Fassi was one of two players in the field to finish under par shooting 210 (70–71–69).
Her final day 69 was one of two rounds in the 60s on the Long Cove Club course and the victory is her second consecutive win this spring.
Fassi is just the second Razorback in program history to win four or more events in a season joining former Razorback Stacy Lewis with that honor.
The Razorbacks put together a final round 288 for a 22-over 874. They finished just behind second-ranked Alabama who won with an 866.
Fassi’s final round included two bogeys and four birdies. The Hidalgo, Mexico, native led the field with 14 birdies and in par-5 scoring, playing the long holes 6-under over three rounds.
Junior Dylan Kim and senior Alana Uriell both finished tied for 11th overall. The duo shot 291 for three rounds with Kim posting scores of 71–74–74 and Uriell counting 73–72–74.
Junior Kaylee Benton saved her best score for the final round shooting an even-par 71 on Sunday. Benton tied for 40th overall shooting 226 (76–79–71).
Senior Jordy LaBarbera rounds out the Arkansas scores with a 233 (76–80–77).
Notes
• This is Arkansas’ seventh appearance in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate.
• Arkansas’ second-place finish is the best finish for the Razorbacks at this event. It is the second top-5 place (2013, T-5) for Arkansas at the DRI.
• Maria Fassi posted a final round 69 and was one of just two rounds in the 60s on Sunday.
• Maria Fassi has won four college tournaments this year (Mason Rudolph, ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Lady Puerto Classic, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate). She is just the third Razorback to win three or more tournaments and the second (Stacy Lewis) to win four or more events in a single season.
• Arkansas has had only four top-10 finishes for individual players including Maria Fassi’s win at the DRI.
• Arkansas’ 874 is their best score at this event in seven appearances.
Arkansas’ runner up finish comes against a talented field that included three of the top-5 and six of the top-10 teams in the country. In addition, the Razorbacks also finished second among nine Southeastern Conference programs who took part in the event.
The Lineup
| PLACE | PLAYER | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Fassi (1) | 70–71–69—210 | -3 |
| T11 | Dylan Kim (2) | 71–74–74—219 | +6 |
| T11 | Alana Uriell (3) | 73–72–74—219 | +6 |
| T40 | Kaylee Benton (4) | 76–79–71—226 | +13 |
| T73 | Jordy LaBarbera (5) | 76–80–77—233 | +20 |
The Field
| PLACE | TEAM | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 286–291–289—866 | +14 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 290–296–288—874 | +22 |
| 3 | Wake Forest | 296–294–288—878 | +26 |
| 4 | Duke | 295–296–288—879 | +27 |
| 5 | Northwestern | 287–296–303—886 | +34 |
| 6 | Furman | 292–297–302—891 | +39 |
| T7 | Auburn | 304–303–291—898 | +46 |
| T7 | North Carolina | 293–308–297—898 | +46 |
| 9 | South Carolina | 298–300–301—899 | +47 |
| 10 | LSU | 291–302–307—900 | +48 |
| T11 | Georgia, U. of | 294–303–304—901 | +49 |
| T11 | Vanderbilt | 295–300–306—901 | +49 |
| 13 | Baylor | 299–306–299—904 | +52 |
| 14 | Arizona State | 293–309–303—905 | +53 |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | 304–302–300—906 | +54 |
| T16 | Tennessee | 300–305–302—907 | +55 |
| T16 | Mississippi St. U. | 292–311–304—907 | +55 |
| 18 | Virginia | 301–315–293—909 | +57 |
Up Next
Arkansas returns to the course for a new event on the schedule, the Evans-Derby Experience, March 18-20, at Auburn, Alabama.
The Razorbacks follow up with the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic April 13-15, before beginning postseason play at the SEC Championship April 18-22.
Hogs send five divers to Minneapolis for NCAA Zones
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will send all five divers to the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships, starting Monday, March 5 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
Senior Nicole Gillis and junior Marissa Green will each compete in all three events, while freshmen Brooke Schultz and Maha Amer and junior Caroline Welch will each compete in just the one-meter and three-meter springboards.
Schultz is looking to continue her impressive freshman campaign on the boards. The Fayetteville native brought home two SEC Championships, winning the one-meter with a pool record 363.45, while taking home the three-meter crown with a school and personal record 385.65.
She became the ninth SEC diver ever to win the 1m and 3m titles in the same season and the first since Kahlia Warner of Florida in 2016.
Schultz leads Arkansas with 23 Zone scores this season, holding the top nine scores on the team in the one-meter and the top eight scores on the three-meter.
Behind her is Gillis who has 22 Zone scores. Gillis finished third overall on the one-meter at the SEC Championships, scoring 323.85. On the three-meter, she narrowly missed the finals by 0.05 points, scoring a 316.95 to finish ninth.
In her SEC Championship debut, Amer also impressed. She was one of three Razorbacks to make the one-meter final, finishing fourth with a personal-best 322.35. She finished 33rd on the three-meter with a score of 204.75.
Green finished 18th at the conference championships on the platform with a score of 204.00, 25th on the one-meter with a score of 237.10 and 32nd on the three-meter with a score of 210.10. She has nine Zone scores this season, three in each event.
Welch had a 21st-place showing on the three-meter at SEC’s, scoring a 266.60. On the one-meter, she finished 29th with a score of 224.70, while finishing 22nd on the platform (191.90). Welch has three Zone scores this season, all coming in the three-meter.
Live results can be viewed by clicking here.
Schedule of Events
Monday, March 5
11 a.m. – Women’s One-Meter Prelim/Final
Tuesday, March 6
11 a.m. – Women’s Three-Meter Prelim/Final
Wednesday, March 7
11 a.m. – Women’s Platform Prelim/Final
Missouri loss drops Hogs to sixth seed in tourney
FAYETTEVILLE — After finishing the regular season winning six of its last eight games, Arkansas will be the No. 6 seed in the 2018 SEC Tournament at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis next week.
Earning a first-round bye, the Razorbacks will play their tournament opener in the second round on Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 11 South Carolina-No. 14 Ole Miss.
Since the conference expanded to 14 teams in the 2012-13 season, Arkansas has played in the second round just once, losing to Florida in 2016, 68-61.
Arkansas is making its 27th SEC Tournament appearance where it has an all-time record of 24-25, including a berth in the championship game in two of the last three years.
After being voted to finish sixth in the league by the media, Arkansas finished higher than it was picked for the fifth straight season, finishing 21-10 overall and 10-8 in league play, good for a three-way tie for fourth place with Kentucky and Missouri.
Storms’ no-hitter caps two wins at Bogle Park for Hogs
FAYETTEVILLE — One night removed from the program’s first no-hitter in four years, sophomore Autumn Storms put together a no-hitter of her own Saturday evening in a 7-0 win over Central Connecticut State.
In the team’s first game of the day, Arkansas posted a 2-1 triumph over Dartmouth. With Saturday’s wins, the Razorbacks move to 14-1 through their first 15 games of the season.
“I like the way we responded in game two,” coach Courtney Deifel said. “And of course, Autumn Storms was fantastic in the circle for us tonight. Our offense put together some better at-bats against Central Connecticut. I’m looking forward to us playing more of our style tomorrow to close out the weekend.”
Up Next
The Razorback Invitational concludes Sunday with three games at Bogle Park with two featuring the home team.
Arkansas will play Northern Colorado at 11:15 a.m. and close out the weekend against Central Connecticut State at 1:30 p.m.
Both games will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and be available through the WatchESPN app.
Game 1: Arkansas 2, Dartmouth 1 | Box Score
With the score tied at 1-1 and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Autumn Buczek knocked a base hit into center field to plate fellow senior Loren Krzysko for the game-winning run.
Krzysko began the rally with a double off the wall in center field. Tori Cooper — another senior — kept the offense going with a hit to right and Haydi Bugarin reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases.
Hannah McEwen finished the game with a pair of hits including a first-inning solo home run to right field. The big fly was her team-leading fifth of the season and gave the Razorbacks the early 1-0 advantage.
After a no-hitter in her last start, freshman Mary Haff made that one run stand up through six innings. The Winter Haven, Florida, native struck out 12 Dartmouth hitters and allowed just two hits.
The Big Green tied the game in the top of the seventh inning, scoring an unearned run on an RBI double by Calista Almer. Dartmouth had the go-ahead run at second with no outs.
However, Haff retired the next three hitters with the help of a diving catch in center by Krzysko and her 12th strikeout to keep the game tied.
Game 2: Arkansas 7, Central Connecticut State 0 | Box Score
Storms was in control throughout Saturday night’s game and registered a career-high nine strikeouts en route to collecting her sixth win of the season.
She struck out six through the first six innings and was perfect through six before giving up her first base runner of the day on an error.
Storms remained steady and limited any damage to that one runner. A ground ball to third secured the eighth no-hitter in program history.
The offense took advantage of three CCSU errors in the first inning and plated three runs to take an early lead. Ashley Diaz and Kayla Green each tallied an RBI in the frame.
McEwen added an RBI single in the second and Krzysko made the score 6-0 with a two-run shot to center field. The long ball was her fourth of the season.
The Razorbacks added an unearned run in the fifth on an RBI fielder’s choice by senior A.J. Belans.
2018 Razorback Invitational (Saturday Results)
Northern Colorado 3, Dartmouth 2
Central Connecticut State 6, Northern Colorado 0
Arkansas 2, Dartmouth 1
Arkansas 7, Central Connecticut State 0
Razorbacks win spring opener on Malham’s header
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas picked up where it left off last season in its 2018 spring opener by defeating SEC foe Mississippi State, 1-0, at Razorback Field.
With the great weather in the Northwest Arkansas area, Arkansas and Mississippi State were able to play in front of a lively crowd at Razorback Field
Sophomore-to-be Taylor Malham scored the lone goal off a header in the 31st minute off a perfectly placed corner kick from Parker Goins. Malham is fresh off a six-goal season from a year ago where she finished second on the team and had two assists.
Goins led the team in assists and goals in 2017. Her nine goals were also good for a tie for fifth in the SEC.
“There were three areas we wanted to evaluate ourselves on in this match: mentality, our pressing or team defending, and the ‘danger zone’, which is the attacking third and making things happen in the run of play,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “I thought our mentality was tremendous today. This was not your normal spring game. It was very competitive and very physical. I thought we did well and rose to the challenge.
“We were a moment or two away from three or four goals today,” Hale said. “We created a lot from the run of play that could have given us more. There were a lot of positives that we’ll take with us into practice next week. We’ll watch the video and look at some things we need to get better at and get back to work on it.”
After Malham’s goal took the match into halftime, the Razorback defense took over and, seemingly, never gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to try and even the match.
“I thought the pressing piece was very good,” Hale said. “It was good to the point where they (Mississippi State) didn’t even try to play around the back in the second half and it caused a lot of trouble for them.”
Arkansas’ next spring match will be on March 30 when it takes on the Tulsa Soccer Club U15 Boys’ Team at Razorback Field. First kick time is to be determined.
2018 Razorback Spring Soccer Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time/Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 3 | Mississippi State | Razorback Field | W, 1-0 |
| March 30 | Tulsa Soccer Club U15 Boys | Razorback Field | TBA |
| April 15 | Ole Miss | Conway, Ark. | TBA |
| April 22 | Kansas State | Manhattan, Kan. | TBA |
Hogs fall in regular-season finale at Missouri, 77-67
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas fell on the road Saturday night to Missouri, 77-67, to close out the regular season at 21-10 overall, 10-8 in SEC play.
Arkansas finishd tied for fourth in the SEC, ahead of their projected finish for the fifth straight season.
The Razorbacks will be the sixth seed in the SEC Tournament next week and will play at 8 p.m.
Arkansas’ defense forced the Tigers to miss their first five shots of the game, as the Razorbacks opened on a quick 5-0 run to take the initial lead.
After Arkansas built a 14-7 lead, Missouri eventually settled in on its Senior Day. The Tigers went on a 15-2 run to take their first lead at 22-16, as Arkansas struggled to box out on the defensive end.
Missouri scored eight of their first 22 points off offensive rebounds, finishing with 10 in the first half, thanks to eight offensive boards.
Missouri finished the first half on a 11-4 run, as Arkansas could not find any flow on the offensive end. The Tigers would lead the Hogs 39-31 at the break.
Arkansas would come out of the gate and would get a quick three by Jaylen Barford to push the Missouri lead to five. The Tigers would stretch it back out to eight before Arkansas scored four straight in transition to cut it to four.
Down four, Arkansas turned up the pressure.
Missouri went on a 16-4 run to take a double-digit lead again, six of those points coming from the free throw line. The Tigers held off the Razorbacks from there.
Arkansas’ foul trouble hurt the Razorbacks, committing 26 fouls to Missouri’s 17. The Tigers went to the line 33 times, while Arkansas attempted just 15 free throws. Arkansas did not attempt a free throw in the second half until the 5:06 mark.
Daniel Gafford led the way for Arkansas with 16 points, recording four rebounds and four blocks. Daryl Macon added 12 points, while Barford and Anton Beard each posted 11 a piece.
Biggers, Koch, Cole break down Hogs’ loss to Trojans
Arkansas players Jax Biggers, Grant Koch and Eric Cole spoke with the media after losing to USC, 3-1, on Saturday.
