Cal Gets Win 900; #20/19 Arkansas Downs Mizzou, 88-84 in OT

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Arkansas needed an extra five minutes, but the #20/19 Razorbacks toughed out an 88-84 overtime win at Missouri to give head coach John Calipari his 900th career win.

Arkansas played without its National Player of the Year candidate Darius Acuff Jr., who is nursing an ankle injury that was initially suffered versus Auburn (Feb. 14).

With the victory, Calipari improved to 900-285 in his 34th year and became just the fifth person to reach at least 900 on-court wins as head coach at an NCAA Division I program, joining Mike Krzyzewski (1,202), Jim Boeheim (1,116), Rick Pitino (910) and Roy Williams (903).

Cal is the third-fastest to 900 wins, doing so in 1,185 games. Coach K did it in 1,183 games to rank second. Cal is the second-youngest to reach 900. Coach K won 900 games at the age of 64. Cal turned 67 on Feb 10 and edges Bob Knight, who won his 900th at 67 and 2+ months.

To get the win, Trevon Brazile hit a dagger 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in overtime to give Arkansas a 2-point lead. Neither team scored on their following possessions but Malique Ewin grabbed an offensive rebound with eight seconds left and was fouled. He sank both free throws for a 4-point Razorback lead. After a Mizzou basket, Ewin was fouled again with five seconds left and the senior sank both to seal the win.

While Brazile and Ewin made the big shots down the stretch, freshman Meleek Thomas led the Hogs with a career-high 28 points, making 5-of-6 from 3-point range. He added seven rebounds. Brazile finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Ewin had 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Missouri was led by Mark Mitchell’s 32 points, going 11-of-20 from the field and 9-of-11 at the line.

Arkansas returns to action on Friday (Mar. 13) in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, played in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Arkansas will be either the 2 or 3 seed and play in the Friday night session at 6 or 8:30 pm (CT).

FIRST HALF: ARK: 39 – MIZ: 36

• Arkansas started fast. It used a 17-2 run, including an 8-0 spurt to start and a 9-0 spurt to end, to lead 28-13. The Razorbacks would take its largest lead of 15 points (35-20) with 5:32 left.
• The Tigers ended the half strong, out-scoring the Razorbacks 16-4 to close the period.
• Both teams shot 50% from the field, Arkansas 17-of-34 and Mizzou 14-of-28.
• Arkansas out-rebounded the Tigers, 17-15.
• Trevon Brazile led Arkansas with 13 points, and Meleek Thomas added 10.
• Mark Mitchell led the Tigers with 14 points.

SECOND HALF: ARK: 35 – MIZ: 38

• There were eight ties and five lead changes in the final six minutes. Overall, there were 7 lead changes and 9 ties in the second half.
• While Mizzou closed the first half strong, Arkansas came out and scored the first five points of the half – a Brazile triple and Billy Richmond III dunk.
• Then, Mizzou went on an 11-0 run to lead 47-44.
• The teams went back-and-forth the next three minutes with Mizzou leading 58-57 with 11:35 left. However, neither team scored over the next three minutes. Mitchell broke the drought, scoring four points, to give the Tigers a 62-57 lead.
• Arkansas went on a 10-3 run to lead 67-65 with 4:24 left, including four points from D.J. Wagner and four points from Thomas.
• Thomas made a jumper with 1:09 left to put Arkansas up two (73-71). Mitchell countered with an old-fashion 3-point play, marking the fifth foul on Richmond, to give the Tigers a 74-73 lead.
• Thomas was fouled and went 1-of-2 at the line to tie the game at 74 with 31 seconds left.
• Missouri tried to milk the clock for a final shot but the Razorback defense rose to the occasion to force overtime.
• Arkansas was led by Thomas’ 18 points and Mitchell led Mizzou with 16 points in the period.

OVERTIME: ARK: 14 – MIZ: 10

• Arkansas scored first on a Ewin layup. The Hogs would eventually push its lead to four (81-77) with 2;32 left.
• Missouri answered with two free throws from Mitchell and a Shawn Phillips Sr. layup to tie the game at 81 with 1:45 left.
• Neither team scored over the next minute until Phillips was fouled. He missed the first free throw and made the second for a 1-point Mizzou lead.
• On the ensuing possession, Brazile drilled a 3-pointer from the top right of the 3-point line with 38 ticks left to give Arkansas a 2-point cushion.
• Missouri had two turnovers on its next two possessions and Arkansas missed three free throws. However, Ewin got an offensive rebound on the three Razorback miss, was fouled and made both free throws for a 4-point lead.
• In the overtime period, Arkansas out-rebounded the Tigers, 6-3, with three assists, no turnovers and two steals.
• Ewin scored 9 of the Hogs’ 12 points in OT.

NOTES:

• For the first time this season, Arkansas’ starting lineup was D.J. Wagner, Meleek Thomas, Billy Richmond III, Trevon Brazile and Nick Pringle.
• Arkansas won the opening tip.
• D.J. Wagner scored the first points of the game with a jumper at 19:32.
• Arkansas’s first sub was Malique Ewin.
• This was the 66th meeting between Arkansas and Missouri all time and the second a 14-day span. The teams met in Bud Walton Arena on Feb. 21, a game the Razorbacks won 94-86.
• Arkansas leads the all-time series, 38-28, and has won 11 of the last 14.
• Since Missouri joined the SEC in 2012-13 the border rivals have played 29 times with Arkansas owning a 19-10 advantage.
• Missouri leads the series in games played in Columbia, 18-14 overall and 8-6 in SEC meetings.
• Arkansas swept Mizzou this season.
• Trevon Brazile is 3 3-pointers shy of becoming the first Razorback with 40 3s, 40 blocks and 40 steals in a season. He has 37 – 48 – 46.
• Malique Ewin had four offensive rebounds. For the season, he has 81 offensive boards and 81 defensive boards.
• Thomas is the 6th Razorback to make 5+ threes, 5+ free throws and grab 7+ rebounds in a game (Todd Day, Scotty Thurman, Jannero Pargo, Jonathon Modica, Isaiah Joe). Thurman vs. Ole Miss on 1/6/1993 is the only other to do so in an SEC game. (HogStats)
• Arkansas was 3-0 in games that started at 11 am this season (beat Texas Tech in Dallas, beat Miss State in Starkville and beat Mizzou in CoMo). Arkansas was 1-8 since 2011-12 in road games that started in the 11am hour
• In his final two “home” games, Trevon Brazile has been brilliant. On Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena, he had a career-high 28 points with 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals. On Saturday, the Springfield, Mo., native had 18 points with nine rebounds and three steals.

 

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