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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri men’s basketball team used a late run to secure a 79-76 victory over nationally-ranked Arkansas in front of 14,448 fans at Mizzou Arena on Wednesday night. The Tigers secured their third win over a ranked opponent this season and improve to 14-4 overall and 3-3 in SEC action, while the No. 25 Razorbacks drop to 12-6 and 1-5 in league play.
Three Tigers reached double figures on the night with senior Kobe Brown leading the way with 17-points on 6-of-10 shooting, while adding six boards and two assists. Guard DeAndre Gholston racked up 16 points accompanied by his three dimes and two rebounds with senior point guard Sean East II reaching 12 points and snagging a pair of rebounds.
With his 16 points, Gholston became the sixth current Tiger to eclipse 1,000 points for his career – the most by any team in the country.
Arkansas took the advantage early, leading 12-5 midway through the first half. The Tigers defense, however, allowed the home team back into the game as Mizzou roared back with a 13-5 run for their first advantage of the game, 18-17, thanks to back-to-back triples from freshman Aidan Shaw. The Tigers held Arkansas to just one field goal during a 9:40 stretch, while also forcing the Razorbacks into 14 first-half turnovers. Overall, the lead changed 12 times during the final seven minutes of the half with the visitors taking a 35-34 advantage into the locker room.
Mizzou came back from the break and retake the lead with a Kobe Brown jumper, leading by as much as six in the first four minutes of the half. The Razorbacks, however, swayed the game in their favor from there, using a 16-4 run to eventually take a 10-point lead with just over five minutes remaining.
The Tigers would not be deterred, however. Gholston capped a 10-0 Mizzou run with a catch-and-shoot corner three, evening the score at 67 with 2:28 to play. After trading points two-straight times down the court and the game tied at 71 with under a minute remaining, Mizzou’s D’Moi Hodge drew a charge to give the ball back to the Tigers. Brown took advantage and drew a shooting foul in the paint, knocking down both free throws to give Mizzou a 73-71 advantage. After stealing the ball on the ensuing possession, the Tigers never looked back and knocked down their final six from the charity stripe in the 79-76 victory.
When it was all said and done, the Tigers scored 22 points in the final five minutes of the game, outscoring the nationally-ranked Razorbacks, 22-9, to secure the three-point win.
Mizzou converted 44.9 percent of its field goals in the winning effort with a 30-of-40 performance from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Arkansas shot 46.0 percent and went 23-of-26 from the foul line.
UP NEXT
The Tigers wrap up their two-game homestand against ranked teams on Saturday when No. 4 Alabama comes to Mizzou Arena. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
