FAYETTEVILLE — When the Arkansas Razorbacks headed home for a short Christmas break, they were packing a five-game winning streak.
Arkansas (7-5) got its fifth consecutive victory, 66-62 in overtime over Missouri State (10-1) on Tuesday night in Walton Arena.
“Early Christmas present,” said freshman forward Glenn Bryant, who energized the Razorbacks off the bench with 11 rebounds, 5 points and 2 blocked shots.
The Bears were going for their first 11-0 start since the 1958-1959 season and had been among eight NCAA Division I teams without a loss.
“A lot is made about their style and their toughness and their defense and all that, and they are good,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “But I thought our guys matched it toe to toe, step for step.
“We really competed in this game.”
The Razorbacks had 20 turnovers and couldn’t hold on to an 11-point lead the final 10 minutes of regulation, but they found a way to make enoughplays to win.
Sophomore guard Rotnei Clarke scored Arkansas’ final 12 points, including all seven in overtime.
“They’re a really, really good team, so it was big for us to knock them off, especially in our building,” Clarke said. “Now we don’t have a to deal with a loss for the Christmas break. We can take our momentum into the break and hopefully continue it with thetough games we have coming up.”
The Razorbacks’ next game is against Baylor (9-1) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, then they return to Walton Arena to face Alabama-Birmingham (11-1) on Jan. 2 andNo. 2 Texas (11-0) on Jan. 5 before starting SEC play.
The Razorbacks will resume practice Sunday.
“When we come back, we’ve got a lot more teams coming in here that are very good,” Pelphrey said. “We understand this is a very good win [over Missouri State], but we’ve got to get better.”
Pelphrey praised the Razorbacks’ attitude and workethic in bouncing back from a 2-5 start.
“Those guys really could have hung their head, but they came back every single day after those losses and worked hard,” he said. “Now they’re going to have a chance to see if they can do it and handle success.”
Pelphrey said he doesn’t see it as a negative the Razorbacks are taking their Christmas break while they’re enjoying a winning streak.
“I think it’s important for those guys to go home and be with their families and enjoy all the traditions they might have with them,” he said. “I think it gives them a break, and they feel better when they come back.
“Now we just look forward to getting them back safely and see if we can’t work hard and make some improvement as a team.”
Sports, Pages 18 on 12/25/2009