Things looked dicey for a while in the first half, but a late run gave the Razorbacks a halftime lead that they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to a 94-86 win over Missouri. The Hogs are now 10-4 in the SEC and have their second straight 20-win season.
Billy Richmond III paced the Hogs with 21 points. It’s his third career game with 20+ points, and they’ve all come in his last three. Entering this stretch, his career high for field goal attempts in a game was 11, and he’s attempted 15, 19, and 14 field goals over his last three. A clearly-hobbled Darius Acuff added 20 on 11 made free throws. It was also a bounceback game for Malique Ewin, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. The Razorbacks couldn’t stop Mizzou star Mark Mitchell (26 points), but they mostly limited the Tiger supporting cast.
The win is Arkansas’ ninth in its last 11 games against Missouri. The Tigers last beat Arkansas in Fayetteville in 2021.
- Matchup Analysis: Arkansas must match Texas A&M’s frantic energy
- Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 94, Missouri 86
- Matchup Analysis: Do the shorthanded Hogs have enough length to tangle with the Tigers?
Advanced stats
Missouri tried to turtle this thing out, taking 18.8 seconds per offensive possession. That left them with only eight transition opportunities all game, but they were very effective in halfcourt. The Hogs were +12 in points off turnovers and +15 in fastbreak points.
To get 94 points in just 67 possessions is absolutely incredible efficiency by Arkansas. This offense is on another level right now and has been for several weeks.
A funny note is that neither team made a midrange jumper. Missouri didn’t even attempt one, but Arkansas had a few attempts. Both teams took nearly two-thirds of their shots in the paint. Missouri actually managed a slightly higher eFG% and True Shooting. However, as we said was necessary in the preview, Arkansas was active on the glass, winning the offensive rebounding rate and producing a significantly higher volume of shots.
Missouri is not a great turnover-forcing team, but once again, the Hogs barely turned it over, and as a result they now have the lowest turnover rate in the nation at 12.3% of possessions this season. That’s one of three stats we track where the Hogs are ranked first: the other two are Scoring Rate and Points off Turnovers Allowed.
Acuff wasn’t himself as he was minus-5 but still had 20 points and five assists against zero turnovers. Arkansas’ run late in the first half came with Acuff on the bench and featured DJ Wagner and Meleek Thomas in the backcourt. Richmond was the overall leader at +19 actual and +7.5 box plus-minus.
The siren may have sounded for Nick Pringle, who played just 12 minutes and was minus-11. John Calipari reports that Pringle told him at halftime he’d be okay if Malique Ewin started. It’s an admission of what’s become obvious, but it’s also a pretext for Cal to actually make the move.
For Missouri, Mark Mitchell was as-advertised, scoring 26 points and flashing his passing skills with eight assists when Arkansas tried to help. This Razorback defense really struggles against talented stretch-4s like Mitchell, which mostly relates to Trevon Brazile’s issues with on-ball defense that have followed him his entire career.
Also, this is two games in a row that 7’5 center Trent Burns has provided them a nice spark, as he went +11 in 12 minutes. If I’m Dennis Gates, I’m ramping his minutes up to close out this year and counting on him to be a huge piece next season. He didn’t do much statistically (zero rebounds isn’t great), but his Tigers outscored the Hogs 33-22, hitting 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, 5 of 7 at the rim, attempting nine free throws, and recording just one turnover. For Arkansas, only four of the Hogs’ 19 field goal attempts in that stretch came at the rim. That’s exactly what Missouri wants to see.
Highlights
Up next
The big games continue in the midweek as Texas A&M comes to Fayetteville. After a midseason slump, the Aggies have won two in a row and are just two games back of the Hogs in the SEC standings at 8-6. Texas A&M plays at an extremely fast pace, so get ready for plenty of points.
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