Off the Mark: Mizzou Misses Game’s Final Shots – Arkansas Wins

COLUMBIA, Mo.– Missouri guard Wes Clark missed two free throws with 3.3 seconds left as Arkansas came back from a halftime deficit for the second time on the road in SEC play and held on for a 61-60 win at Missouri Saturday afternoon.

Less than 40 hours removed from a buzzer-beating overtime win against Alabama, Arkansas improves to 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the SEC with its fifth road victory in its last eight tries in league action. The Mizzou Tigers (7-12, 1-5) have now dropped five in a row since opening SEC play with a win against LSU.

In a game that featured 12 ties and eight lead changes, senior Rashad Madden provided the last lead change with a pull-up jumper from just outside the left side of the paint to give the Razorbacks a 61-60 lead with 1:24 left.

Arkansas came up with a stop on Missouri’s next possession but failed to extend its lead before the Tigers got the ball back. With just five team fouls, Madden smartly fouled with 5.3 seconds left to force Missouri to in-bound from the sideline in front of their bench. The Tigers got the ball to Clark, who scored six straight points for Missouri late in the second half, and he was fouled driving baseline.

Holding a 61-60 lead, head coach Mike Anderson used one of his two remaining timeouts with 3.3 seconds left. A 74 percent free throw shooter on the year, Clark missed both free throws off the right rim and Madden grabbed his career-best ninth rebound of the game before launching the ball down the court before he could be fouled.

The win snaps a three-game losing streak for Arkansas at Mizzou Arena.

Arkansas was led in scoring by senior Alandise Harris’ 14 points on 6-of-9 from the field. Harris scored 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench at Missouri last season, which was also a one-point game. Sophomore Bobby Portis used six offensive rebounds to corral his fifth consecutive double-double which featured 12 points and 10 boards.

Entering the game 21st in the nation in offensive rebounding, Arkansas’ 16 offensive caroms that helped it overcome a 37 percent (23-63) day from the field. Along with their offensive rebounds, the Razorbacks were also able to extend possessions by committing a season-low three turnovers, including none from the seven guards that played.

The 60 points is the least surrendered by the Razorbacks in SEC play, as Missouri shot 40 percent (23-58) and was led by sophomore Johnathan Williams III’s double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Stat Of The Game
After becoming the first player in program history with four straight double-doubles in SEC play thanks to his tip-in at the buzzer against Alabama on Thursday, sophomore Bobby Portis stretched his record to five with his 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Tigers. His five straight double-doubles equal his total from all of 2013-14 as he’ll look to equal Derek Hood’s record of six straight from 1999. Hood posted three straight to close SEC regular season action and then three straight in the SEC Tournament.

Coach Anderson Postgame Sound
“I thought we played with a lot of guts today and I liked that we didn’t go away. We didn’t play our best, but our energy and focus never left. Coach Kim Anderson does a great job and he had these guys ready to go in front of a big home crowd. We were fortunate they missed those two free throws, but we put ourselves in position to win and that’s what you have to do.”

Arkansas Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement…
“Well, if you wanted a competitive game, you got that no question about that, right down to the few seconds. If you wanted a pretty game it probably wasn’t, but at the end of the day you had two teams that competed. I commend Kim Anderson; he has those kids playing hard. As a young basketball team, they’re coming off some hard loses, and to play teams, such as us, who are a different kind of team than they usually play, they played unbelievable tonight, making shots. Gill-Caesar really kept them in there, and of course you have Clark who is making big plays for them. ‘J III’ you already know about him from the recruiting game, so they have a lot of young talent. We were fortunate as time ran out on them and we’re happy for the win. Our kids competed. I thought they came in a lot better than we had in the previous games, and again when you get to the free throw line and it’s going down the stretch you have to make your free throws. We miss some, and they miss some as well. We were fortunate on the game tonight.”

On the time-out called before Wes Clark’s free throws, was it to make Clark think oor was it to plan out coaching moves…
“It was both. We tried to ice him a little bit. Like I said, sitting there in that chair where I am sitting, watching a lot of free throws being shot going down the stretch in the games, it brought to mind a couple of those games where we played opponents where they made the shots. You know we were fortunate. I am sure if Wes made those shots nine other times he would make them. But this afternoon, it shined on the Razorbacks. “

On the feeling you had winning as a visiting coach:
“We had a race and that’s the most important thing. We’re in the SEC, racing for our kids to come in and battle against all kinds of odds. It was a great crowd. The energy was in the building that their kids fed off of. They led by four at halftime, and we’ve been in those situations where we hadn’t played well and we panic. But I think the Alabama game is a sign of our kids really improving and growing. There are a lot of story lines, and everyone wants to read about it, but to me I’m a day-to-day guy, so to me it was the next game. Was it a big game? Yes, why, because it was the next game. And obviously because of my ties here. The thing I love about it is that people care about basketball. They have passion about it, and that means I did my job when I came here. But other than that we just happened to get the rebound.”

Arkansas Sophomore Forward Bobby Portis
On his feelings while Wes Clark was at the free throw line at the end of the game:
“Hoping he misses both of them and if he makes it we must get the rebound.”

On what he thought was the key to Arkansas’ win today:
“Defense. In the first half Wes (Clark) and the team were getting easy pull-ups and lay-ups, but in the second half, coach harped on us stopping them during half time.”

On how the team is able to win on the road this season:
“Our confidence, although we are a new team our chemistry has improved since last year and we are hanging out together outside the court.”

On the defense Mizzou played on Michael Qualls today:
“All big scorers have those games. Last game I didn’t really score that well, but it happens to you. You can’t always score well every night.

Arkansas Senior Forward Alandise Harris 

On having two good games at Mizzou Arena:
“I like to play well on the road. I know I need to play well on the road in order for us to win.”

On the defense played on Michael Qualls today:
“He’s not the only person on our team. It requires others to have to step up because it could be anybody’s best game.”

Mizzou Head Coach Kim Anderson 

Opening Statement…
“I’m really proud of these guys. I mean, we played a great basketball team, and they had an opportunity to win. We’ve had several games like this. I don’t know if we’ve ever had any quite like this, but several close calls. I thought in the first half, we did a good job of recovering it. They got off to a lead and were a little bit tentative, and didn’t take great shots, and I thought our defense got a lot better. We did good job of keeping them off the boards, and that was not the case in the second half. In the second half, they got a lot of offensive rebounds – looking at your second chance points, 15-8. In a game like this, and this is something we’re trying to learn as a group, we have some young guys, little things like this make a difference. One or two possessions, and we don’t have that large margin of error. We can’t give away possessions. I thought our effort was great. We made some plays when we needed to. We did a good job on Qualls, he’s a great player. We had some guys step up. I was glad to see ‘Teki’ feel better. He had a sprained ankle yesterday, and I wasn’t even sure if he was going to play. Wes Clark made some great plays down the stretch to get us back to where we were. As there have been several, it was a disappointing loss, but you just have to hopefully learn from it and build on it.”

On Wes Clark’s missed free throws…
“Wes Clark did not lose the game.”

On keeping Arkansas’ score lower than average…
“I thought we did a great job, with a couple of exceptions, against their press. We threw it away a couple of times, and I thought the tempo was about what we wanted. We wanted to run, and had the opportunity. We did a good job defensively. Wes did a good job on Qualls. They were 4-for-16 for threes. There were 12 threes that they missed, and a lot of those were long rebounds, and we just didn’t do a good job of getting those guys off. I thought we did a good job defensively.”

On the last possession that got Wes Clark to the line…
“Wes was hot, so we wanted him to have the basketball. And they did a good job, but he was able to sneak down the line and get fouled.”

On Wes Clark wanting to have the ball in key situations…
“I really think he has improved. I think one area that we have improved we are now a team that is getting better at playing north and south. Playing vertically instead of just being as a sideways team. I thought we did a pretty good job of getting inside and kicking it out and making the extra pass, and those are things we didn’t do three weeks ago very well, so Wes is a part of that and Keith is a part of that. I thought ‘Teki’ and Namon played with great patience. ‘Teki’ didn’t try to force anything. He moved well. He knocked them down. I do think Wes has become a guy who is harder to guard. He’s almost better without a screen. He’s really improved this whole year.”

On Wes Clark’s ability to make plays for other guys…
“Guys are doing a good job guarding, and I think Arkansas did a good job on him. I think we as a team- and I know it hasn’t always shown – we’ve lost some games and that’s disappointing. I think that Wes and Keith have made some plays, and it’s helped our outside shooting. We’ve gotten better shots. We haven’t always made them, but we have the opportunities. I hope that will continue. Tramaine too—I thought he played pretty well tonight.”

Quick Hits
• Marks the first time since 1997-98 Arkansas has won 15 times before its 20th game.
• Arkansas has now won two SEC road games (at Georgia & at Missouri) when trailing at the half.
• Arkansas has won five of its last eight SEC regular season road showdowns.
• Arkansas’ three turnovers are a season-low and the fourth game with single-digit miscues.
• The first turnover came at the 14:40 mark of the second half.
• Portis and Qualls have led Arkansas in scoring all but three games with Harris accounting for two of those.
• Harris has scored double figures two straight games at Missouri, going for 30 points in 49 minutes.
• Three of Harris’ six career double figure games in SEC play have come on the road.
• Portis has reached double figures in a career-best 14 consecutive games.
• Portis’ five straight double-doubles feature 30 offensive rebounds.
• Portis has all seven double-doubles by a Razorback this season and 12 for his career.
• Portis has nine double-doubles in his last 21 games.
• Portis has five or more offensive boards in five straight contests.
• Madden is just the 11th player in program history with 300 career assists.
• Madden is two assists away from being in the program’s all-time top 10 in assists.
• Madden’s nine rebounds are a career-high.

Up Next
Arkansas will look for a little revenge on Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena when it hosts Tennessee. The Volunteers defeated the Razorbacks, 74-69, in Knoxville less than two weeks ago. Both teams are tied for second in the SEC standings. Tip is slated for 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.