Isaiah Joe made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 points in his first game back in the lineup, after missing the last five due to injury, to lead Arkansas to a 78-68 victory over Missouri Saturday afternoon.
Joe, 1 of 10 finalists for the Jerry West Award, had missed the TCU game (Jan. 25) due to a right knee injury then had surgery Feb. 4 forcing him to miss the last five games. He was 5-of-10 from 3-point range, including a trey with 1:10 left to help seal the win, in his return while adding three rebounds and three assists.
Joe was not a one-man show in the win. Four other Razorbacks scored in double figures as well, including Desi Sills (17), Jimmy Whitt Jr., (14), Mason Jones (12) and Adrio Bailey (11).
Joe did not score until making two free throws at the 9:15 mark of the first half and his first triple did not come until 6:05. However, he caught fire, making a 3-pointer with 1:27 left to give Arkansas its first lead, 33-31 – a lead the Hogs would not surrender the rest of the way. Joe scored 10 first-half points to help the Razorbacks go on a 12-2 run to end the first half and lead 35-33.
As important to the win for Arkansas were the clutch 3-pointers made by Sills down the stretch. The sophomore scored 14 second-half points, including three triples inside the final 7:45. The first two came with Arkansas clinging to a 2-point lead and the last came with 1:33 left to put the Hogs up eight.
However, the Tigers fought back to trail by three with 1:17 remaining. Seven seconds later, Joe sank a 3-pointer to go back up six. Mason Jones was 4-of-4 from the free throw line to close the game for the 10-point victory (78-68).
Sills finished with an SEC career-high 17 points, draining 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Jones, the SEC’s leading scorer and NCAA leader in free throws, was 7-of-8 from the line in scoring 12 points. He led the team with eight rebounds and four assists.
Arkansas stays home to host Tennessee on Wednesday (Feb. 26).
Adrio Bailey Throws It Down!
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