Razorbacks Win Fourth Straight in Tuscaloosa
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A stout defensive effort led the Arkansas men’s basketball team to a 62-61 victory at Alabama on Wednesday night in Coleman Coliseum. The Razorbacks won their season-best fourth consecutive game – including second straight on the road – to improve to 16-14 on the year and 9-8 in SEC play.
With the victory, Mike Anderson’s squad became one of three SEC teams with consecutive road wins in conference play this season. Over the last three seasons, the Razorbacks have won on the road against 10 of the 13 SEC schools.
Moses Kingsley was a force inside for Arkansas, leading the team with 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. It was his sixth-consecutive game with eight-plus rebounds and 12th effort of three-plus blocks in 30 games this season.
Anthlon Bell added 17 points of his own, including two clutch foul shots with 3.8 seconds left to put the Razorbacks up by four. They ended up being extremely crucial, as the Crimson Tide’s Retin Obasohan – who had 32 of their 61 points – hit a three-pointer as time expired to bring the final spread to only one point. Bell went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and has now made 29 consecutive free throws.
A low-scoring contest early, Alabama led 20-17 a full 13 minutes into the game. But Arkansas went on a 17-7 run over the final seven minutes of the first half, capped by a hanging layup by Anton Beard in the lane as time expired, to take a 34-27 lead into halftime. Dusty Hannahs led the Razorbacks with nine points in the first half.
Obasohan opened up the second half with a vengeance, scoring the first six points for the Crimson Tide to bring the score within one. Neither team led by more than five the rest of the way, as the game was destined to go down to the wire.
The lead changed hands when Obasohan hit a free throw with 3:38 remaining to give Alabama a 58-57 lead, but a clutch Kingsley putback at the 1:44 mark put the Razorbacks ahead for good. The visitors didn’t allow any more points until the final buzzer, when Obasohan sunk the long three with a four-point deficit.
QUICK HITS
• In the last three seasons, Arkansas has won on the road against 10 of the 13 SEC schools, joining Kentucky (13) and Florida (10) as the only other conference teams to do so.
• During its current four-game winning streak, Arkansas is allowing 65.8 points per game.
• Anthlon Bell has hit a three-pointer in all 30 games this season.
• With a 6-for-6 performance on Wednesday, Bell has made 29 consecutive free throws dating back to Feb. 3 at Florida.
• Dusty Hannahs finished with 10 points and has scored double figures for the fifth-consecutive game.
• Keaton Miles hit his first three-pointer as a Razorback at the 16:11 mark of the first half, extending Arkansas’ consecutive games made with a three streak to 904.
• Willy Kouassi grabbed a season-high five offensive rebounds in only seven minutes of playing time.
• The Razorbacks had nine turnovers, their 14th game with fewer than 10 giveaways this season.
• Arkansas had 15 offensive rebounds, compared to the Crimson Tide’s seven. It was the ninth time this season the Razorbacks have grabbed 15-plus offensive boards in a game.
UP NEXT
Arkansas returns home Saturday afternoon for Senior Day, hosting South Carolina in the final game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena. For tickets click here.
