Arkansas couldn't put away Stanford on Friday in the consolation game of the Preseason NIT, and the Cardinal made the Razorbacks pay.
The Cardinal outscored Arkansas 21-1 over the final 6:38 to defeat the Razorbacks 69-66 at the Barclays Center in New York. Arkansas finished 0-2 in the tournament after losing 83-73 to Georgia Tech on Thursday.
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Game sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 2-3, Stanford 3-3
STARS Arkansas: Senior guard Anthlon Bell (17 points, 5-7 three-pointers), freshman guard Jimmy Whitt (14 points), junior Moses Kingsley (12 points, 12 rebounds). Stanford: Senior forward Rosco Allen (25 points, 9 rebounds), junior guard Marcus Allen (12 points, 5 assists, game-winning basket)
TURNING POINT Stanford closed the game with a 21-1 run, taking its first lead of the second half on Marcus Allen’s layup with four seconds remaining to give the Cardinal a 67-66 lead.
KEY STAT Arkansas shot 27 percent (9 of 34) from the field in the second half, including 13 percent (1 of 8) from behind the three-point line.
UP NEXT Arkansas hosts Northwestern (La.) State at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Walton Arena.
Marcus Allen's layup with three seconds left gave Stanford its first lead of the second half, 67-66, and the Cardinal added two free throws after Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson was assessed a technical foul for questioning a goal-tending call on Allen's basket.
"We got tired and we got tentative," Anderson said. "In the second half, I don't know. Sometimes you make shots."
Arkansas made 9 of 34 (27 percent) from the field over the final 20 minutes, including 1 of 8 (13 percent) from behind the three-point line. Stanford trailed 65-48 with 6:38 remaining after Manny Watkins made the Razorbacks' final field goal, and the Cardinal capped their comeback when Allen split Arkansas' defense to get free for a layup that drew a goal-tending call on Keaton Miles.
"I've seen how big their hearts are," Stanford Coach Johnny Dawkins said of his team's comeback. "We've gone through a lot of adversity early in our season, and through that I've really learned a lot about my team. The thing I've learned is they have big hearts, they keep competing, they never give up."
Anderson was assessed a technical foul moments after Allen's basket, and Rosco Allen hit the two free throws to finish off a career-high 25-point effort. Arkansas junior guard Dusty Hannahs' desperation three-pointer from 55 feet rimmed out at the buzzer.
Anderson said he was never given an explanation for the goal-tending call.
"They never do," Anderson said.
Despite giving up a big lead, the Razorbacks had a chance to distance themselves from the Cardinal in the final minute. Watkins missed a jumper and Marcus made 1 of 2 free throws to pull the Cardinal within 65-66 with 41 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Arkansas' Jabril Durham's shot was blocked out of bounds by Michael Humphrey with a second left on the shot clock. Hannahs put up a three-point attempt that didn't draw iron for a shot-clock violation that gave the Cardinal the ball with nine seconds left.
Allen drove around Durham and lofted the game-winner off the glass just before Miles tapped it away.
"Basketball is a game of momentum," Anderson said. "We didn't do a good job of attacking."
Arkansas hit 11 of its first 15 shots in the opening 11 minutes of the game. Senior guard Anthlon Bell torched Stanford's man-to-man defense with five consecutive three-pointers, with the fifth giving the Razorbacks a 25-6 lead with 12:22 left in the first half.
Arkansas increased its lead to 31-11 at the 8:57 mark on two free throws by Miles before the Cardinal crept back behind Dorian Pickens' three-pointer with 4:22 left that pulled them to within 35-23 and a zone defense that left the Razorbacks shooting 3 of 17 over the final nine minutes.
Bell went to the bench with his second foul at the 11:12 mark and the Razorbacks leading 25-9. He re-entered with 3:53 remaining when the Cardinal cut the deficit to 33-25, but Bell picked up his third foul 2 1/2 minutes later. The Razorbacks managed to build the lead to 10 without Bell as freshman Jimmy Whitt closed out the half by scoring four of his 14 points for a 41-31 halftime lead.
"At halftime we had a 10-point lead and I felt pretty good about our basketball team," Anderson said.
The Razorbacks upped the advantage to 52-39 behind a three-pointer by Hannahs and Moses Kingsley's tip-in with 13:50 left, but Bell picked up his fourth foul on a reach-in just 25 seconds later. Hannahs had back-to-back baskets before missing his first free throw of the season in 20 attempts with the Razorbacks leading 61-45 with 8:06 remaining.
Arkansas scored its final field goal on Watkins' layup with 6:38 left to take a 65-48 lead before Stanford scored 14 consecutive points. Arkansas missed its final 12 shots from the field, with its final point coming on Miles' free throw at the two-minute mark.
"If you're going to beat us, it's going to be 40 minutes," Dawkins said. "It won't be because our kids let up."
Bell led Arkansas with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting before fouling out with 1:43 left. Kingsley finished with 12 points and tied his career high with 12 rebounds. Hannahs finished with 12 points but made only 1 0f 8 three-point attempts after coming into the game as the nation's top three-point shooter at 68.4 percent.
Sports on 11/28/2015