Arkansas upends Missouri Western

By Otis Kirk

Special to News-Times

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas survived a 3-point barrage from Missouri Western on Friday night to take an 88-74 win in front of an estimated 5,132 fans in Bud Walton Arena.

Anton Beard hit two free throws with 11 seconds remaining to give the Razorbacks the 14-point advantage which was the largest lead of the night for either team. This marked the end of the exhibition season for the Hogs.

Missouri Western was on fire from behind the 3-point stripe. They hit 14 of 27 on the night which was 51.9-percent. That oddly enough was better than their free throw percentage which was 50 making half the 16 they attempted. They hit 45.6-percent from the field.

Jaylen Barford was the leading scorer for Arkansas with 23 points. Daryl Macon added 22, Daniel Gafford 15 and Beard 12. Gafford led the Hogs with eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Freshman Darious Hall, who was held out of the first exhibition game as a precautionary measure after getting hit in the head in practice, had a good night. He finished with six points, three rebounds, three blocks and four steals. Barford, Macon and Beard each had four assists to lead Arkansas in that category.

The Razorbacks led 41-35 at intermission. Missouri Western had its biggest lead of the night at 18-10 on a 3-pointer by Alex Martin with 12:49 remaining before halftime.

The rebounding was equal as each team came up with 31. Both teams had eight steals and Missouri Western had only one more turnover, 19-18, than the Razorbacks. The visitor had 19 assists to 16 for the Hogs.

Arkansas shot 52.9-percent from the field while making only eight of 22 from 3-point land for 36.4-percent. Arkansas was impressive at the free throw line making 26 of 31 which may have proved to be the difference in the game considering Missouri Western only made eight free throws.

Missouri Western was led in scoring by Cole Clearmon, Lavon Hightower and Joe Hamilton with 13 points each. TJ Evans added 10. Clearman added four rebounds and six assists while Cheikh Fall led them with six boards.

Arkansas will open the regular season on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT in Bud Walton Arena when they host Samford.

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