Razorbacks use surge late to hold off Sooners
PORTLAND, ORE. — Daryl Macon scored a seasonhigh 27 points, freshman Daniel Gafford hit a key jumper in the closing moments, and Arkansas remained unbeaten with a 92-83 win over Oklahoma on Thursday at the PK80 Invitational.
Jaylen Barford added 19 points for the Razorbacks (4-0) and Gafford had 13 points. None was bigger for the 6-foot-11 freshman than his 17-footer with 1:01 remaining that gave Arkansas a fourpoint lead.
The Sooners missed twice on its next possession and Gafford added two more free throws to clinch Arkansas' second 4-0 start in the past 11 seasons.
Freshman Trae Young led the Sooners (2-1) with 28 points, but Oklahoma had just one field goal in a five-minute span late in the game. OU also went cold from behind the 3-point line hitting just 2 of 12 attempts in the second half.
"Arkansas made it a little more frantic than we wanted it to be in terms of our offense," Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. "That's what they do well, they force the action, force the tempo, which we don't mind tempo but I thought we didn't handle things as well as we needed to there in finishing some opportunities."
Macon tied his careerhigh with six 3-pointers. It was his sixth 3 with 7:25 left that gave Arkansas a 72-67 lead.
For a brief period, Young tried to rally the Sooners by himself. He scored seven straight points, capped by a 35-foot 3-pointer to pull the Sooners within 76-74.