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.
–Field Level Media
