FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Daniel Gafford scored on a pair of monster dunks late in the game and Arkansas defeated Missouri 65-63 Saturday night, snapping a three-game losing streak, but it didn’t come easy.
The Razorbacks (12-5, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) squandered an 18-point first-half lead, but rallied late to pull out the win in front of a sellout crowd of 18,297 in Bud Walton Arena.
Gafford, a freshman, was the difference late in the game with Arkansas trailing 59-55 with just under four minutes to go. Gafford slashed inside and scored on a layup and drew a foul. His free throw pulled Arkansas within 59-58.
Twice guard Daryl Macon found Gafford inside for dunks, the last with under a minute left that gave Arkansas a 65-63 lead.
Twice Missouri had chances late to retake the lead, but the Tigers (12-5, 2-2) could not get a shot to fall. Missouri forced an Arkansas shot-clock violation with 11.7 seconds left, but Jordan Geist was forced to put up an off-balance 3-point attempt from the right corner that missed, and Arkansas rebounded as the clock expired.
Arkansas played lock-down defense for most of the first half, holding Missouri to under 30 percent shooting until near the five-minute mark. Twice Arkansas led by 18 points, the last time at 30-12 when Gafford hit a pair of free throws with 5:49 left in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Jontay Porter jump-started the Tigers and Missouri closed the half on a 16-5 run to trail 35-28 at the break.
Jaylen Barford scored the first eight Arkansas points of the second half to boost the Razorbacks’ lead to 43-31, but Missouri stormed back behind Kassius Robertson, who scored 13 second-half points and finished with a game-high 26. His 3-pointer with 7:15 left pulled Missouri within 53-52, then he added another 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper for a 59-53 lead before Gafford turned the tide for Arkansas.
Gafford led a balanced Arkansas scoring attack with 15 points. Barford added 13, Anton Beard 11 and Darious Hall 10.
Jordan Barnett scored 12 for Missouri.
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