Portis' buzzer-beater sinks Tide

Arkansas' Bobby Portis tips in a shot as time expires in overtime Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas' Bobby Portis tips in a shot as time expires in overtime Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

— One year after delivering the best game of his career against Alabama, Bobby Portis delivered the biggest moment Thursday night.

After committing a foul in the closing seconds of regulation that allowed the Crimson Tide to tie the game, Portis tipped in a missed shot by Ky Madden as time expired in overtime to give Arkansas a 93-91 win at Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks snapped a two-game losing streak.

The play came 50 weeks after Portis scored a career-high 35 points in a win over Alabama and a little more than a year after Michael Qualls' similar putback in the same basket to beat Kentucky in overtime.

Qualls scored a career-high 30 points for Arkansas (14-4, 3-2 SEC) Thursday. He scored eight points in overtime, including a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining to give the Razorbacks a 91-88 lead.

Alabama (12-6, 2-3) tied the game on a 3-pointer by Shannon Hale with 8.8 seconds remaining in overtime, setting the stage for the Razorbacks' last-second heroics. Madden drove into traffic and put up an off-balanced shot as time wound down, but none of the Crimson Tide boxed out Portis, allowing him to tip the ball in over his head.

The Razorbacks avoided a second straight home loss and salvaged a game they appeared to have control of in the opening minutes. Arkansas led by 10 points early in the game, but Alabama stiffened up defensively and pulled to within 34-30 at halftime.

The game was tied 15 times and the teams traded leads 14 times in the final 25 minutes, including overtime. The Razorbacks led 78-73 with 1 minute remaining left in regulation but couldn't close the deal.

Out of position, Portis fouled Michael Kessens on his way up for a shot with 2 seconds remaining. Kessens made the basket and free throw to send the game to overtime.

Justin Coleman led the Crimson Tide with 22 points and Ricky Tarrant added 21 points. Alabama had four players foul out of the game.

Portis, who scored a career-high 35 points against Alabama last season, scored 10 Thursday to along with 13 rebounds. Madden had 17 points and Anton Beard scored 11 points.

Arkansas will travel to Missouri on Saturday.

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