FAYETTEVILLE — Rotnei Clarke was having an off night.
But Arkansas’ sophomore guard came on in hurry, scoring his team’s last 12 points as the Razorbacks beat Missouri State 66-62 in overtime Tuesday night at Walton Arena before a season-high announced crowd of 10,853.
“Big shots, big shots,” Bears Coach Cuonzo Martin said of Clarke. “He’s a guy that takes them, and he makes them.
“He’s got a big-time stroke on him.”
Clarke hit his last four shots after being 2 of 8 from the field, capped by a threepointer - after coming off a double screen by freshman forwards Marshawn Powell and Glenn Bryant and catching a pass from senior guard Stefan Welsh - thatgave the Razorbacks a 64-62 lead with 18.2 seconds left in overtime.
Missouri State guard Adam Leonard, who finished 2 of 17 from the field, then missed on a drive, and forward Will Creekmore missed two follow attempts before Clarke pulled down the rebound and was fouled with 1.7 seconds left.
Clarke, who scored seven of his team-high 19 points in overtime, then hit two free throws to clinch the victory and hand the Bears (10-1) their first loss of the season.
“The thing about a great shooter is, it doesn’t have to take him too long to really impact the game,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said of Clarke’s furious finish. “He hit big-time shots at the end.
“It’s good for him to keep playing, because it’s not always easy drawing all the attention he does.
“He’s just got to keep going and keep going .... and that’s what he did.”
Clarke’s game-winning shot came out of a set play called by Pelphrey in the huddle during a timeout with 25.4 seconds left in overtime.
“Coach and my teammates trusted me to have the last shot at the end and we executed really well,” Clarke said. “The only reason I got open was because guys set screens, and Stef found me at the right time, and I just knocked it down.”
Clarke came into the game averaging 19.9 points, but had just seven before starting his run with a three-pointer to give Arkansas (7-5) a 57-54 leadwith 1:38 left in regulation.
“My main focus was not to get frustrated,” Clarke said of his shooting struggles for most of the game. “Of course, I was a little bit frustrated, but I tried to keep my mind positive and have faith that if I kept shooting, I was going to be able to hit those shots at the end.
“Glory to God, I did.”
Missouri State sophomore forward Kyle Weems, who scored a game-high 24 points,hit a three-point basket with 4:24 left in overtime to give the Bears a 62-59 lead.
But Missouri State didn’t score again and missed its final six shots.
Clarke’s 10-foot jumper in the lane put Arkansas ahead 59-57 with 4.7 seconds left in overtime, but the Bears tied it on Caleb Patterson’s layup at the buzzer after Razorbacks guard Marcus Britt fell down.
“It was tough because they went into overtime with themomentum,” Clarke said. “We knew we had to regroup.
“Obviously, the game wasn’t’ over. We had another five minutes to play, and Coach talked to us about who was going to be the toughest team.”
The Razorbacks showed their toughness in overtime despite losing senior forward Michael Washington, who fouled out with 2:32 in regulation and had seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
“If you had told me we’d be able to do this with Mike playing only 19 of 45 minutes, I would not have believed that,” Pelphrey said. “But when you compete and show some heart, especially in this building, you’ve got a chance.”
Powell (17 points, seven rebounds) and Bryant (11 rebounds) picked up the slack inside with Washington in foul trouble to help the Razorbackswin their fifth in a row.
“There were times from an emotional standpoint where you could have said, ‘OK, knock me out,’ ” Pelphrey said. “But those guys stayed on their feet and they kept swinging, and we made a few plays down the stretch and had a chance to win the game.”
Clarke returned to the starting lineup after missing one game and playing off the bench in another because of tendinitis in his left knee.
After playing 38 minutes, he said the knee felt a little sore.
“Maybe it’s from all the jumping around I did,” Clarke saidofthepostgamecelebration. “That probably wasn’t very smart. But I’m good.”
Clarke was especially good when the Razorbacks need him most.
Sports, Pages 17 on 12/23/2009