No. 20 Arkansas come from behind to take down Missouri
Billy Richmond III scored 21 points, Darius Acuff Jr. added 20 and No. 20 Arkansas overcame an early eight-point deficit for an 94-86 victory over Missouri in a Southeastern Conference game Saturday in Fayetteville.
Reserve Malique Ewin had 16 points and eight rebounds while Meleek Thomas had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Razorbacks (20-7, 10-4 SEC), who pulled away in the final six minutes to remain the only SEC team without back-to-back losses.
Mark Mitchell scored 26 points, Trent Pierce had 22 and Shawn Phillips Jr. added 11 points for the Tigers (18-9, 8-6), who had won four of five.
Richmond was 9 of 14 from the field and had four assists and three steals in his third straight 20-point game before being helped off the floor with 51.4 seconds left with an apparent injury.
Arkansas remained two games behind SEC-leading No. 12 Florida (21-6, 12-2) with four games remaining in the regular season.
Arkansas was 32 of 61 from the field (52.5%) and made 8 of 18 3-pointers.
Missouri was 31 of 56 from the field (55.4%). Mitchell was 8 of 12 from the field and made 9 of 12 free throws. He added eight assists.
Mitchell scored 10 straight Missouri points midway through the first half, and Missouri took a 32-24 lead on Phillips' jumper with 6:07 left in the half.
Arkansas went more than five minutes without a field goal before recovering. D.J. Wagner's 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the half capped a 16-4 run for a 47-41 halftime lead.
Richmond scored eight straight Arkansas points early in the second half, and his put-back moments later gave the Razorbacks a 71-64 lead. Thomas' 3-pointer made it 83-73 with 5:11 left.
Acuff, who scored a school freshman scoring 49 points while playing the full 50 minutes of a 117-115 double overtime loss at Alabama on Wednesday, was 4 of 11 from the field but made 11 of 13 free throws for his eight straight 20-point game. He had five assists and four rebounds.
Arkansas had 17 fast-break points to Missouri's two.
Arkansas played without rotation member Karter Knox, who underwent surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee Thursday. Isaiah Sealy (hip) was also out.