JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Arkansas held on, barely, to win in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.
Wofford missed two three-point attempts in the final seconds as the the Razorbacks held on to beat the Terriers 56-53 Thursday night before an announced crowd of 12,761 in Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Wofford's Karl Cochran missed a three-pointer with 10 seconds left. Spencer Collins got an offensive rebound and passed to Eric Garcia, who missed with a second left.
Junior guard Michael Qualls led Arkansas (27-8) with 20 points. Sophomore forward Bobby Portis had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Razorbacks.
Collins led the Terriers (28-7) with 16 points. Cochran and Jaylen Allen scored 12 points each.
Senior forward Alandise Harris converted a three-point play -- on a layup and free throw -- to put Arkansas ahead 56-53 with 1:40 left
Arkansas advanced to play North Carolina (25-11) on Saturday. The fourth-seeded Tar Heels beat Harvard 67-66, scoring the game's final four points and holding on to win when Wesley Saunders missed a last-second three-point attempt.
Portis' three-point play on an offensive rebound put the Razorbacks ahead 47-46 with 5:21 left.
Wofford got a rebound basket by C.J. Neumann and two free throws by Collins for a 50-47 lead with 4:28 left.
Portis hit two free throws to make it 50-49.
Lee Skinner hit two free throws to give Wofford a 46-44 lead with 6:12 left.
Wofford went ahead 41-38 with 10:41 left after a three-point play by Allen and Collins' jump shot.
Qualls hit two dunks to give Arkansas a 42-41 lead with 7:54 left.
Allen's three-point basket put the Terriers ahead 44-42.
Wofford took a 28-27 halftime lead on Allen three-point basket with 51 seconds left in the first half.
The Razorbacks missed two shots and committed a turnover on their final possession before halftime.
Arkansas took a 6-5 lead on Qualls' three-point basket.
Wofford got three-point baskets by Cochran and Collins to move ahead 11-6 with 13:28 left in the half.
Arkansas got a three-pointer by Qualls and 10-foot jumper by Jacorey Williams to tie it 11-11.
The Terriers moved ahead 16-11 on Collins' three-pointer.
The Razorbacks outscored the Terriers 7-0 to go up 18-16, and Arkansas led 20-18 on Ky Madden's fast-break layup with an assist from Harris.
Cochran hit two free throws to tie it 20-20 with 4:10 left in the half.
Arkansas went ahead 22-20 on Qualls' driving basket.
The Terriers got a layup by Collins and Justin Gordon hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 23-22 Wofford lead.
Portis dunked to give the Razorbacks a 24-23 lead.
Wofford went ahead 25-24 on Lee Skinner's layup with 2:07 left in the half.
Jabril Durham's three-point basket gave Arkansas a 27-25 lead at the 1:05 mark.
Mike Anderson, in his fourth season as Arkansas' coach, improved to 8-6 in NCAA Tournament games, including 7-6 when he coached at Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri.
The Razorbacks are 2-2 in NCAA Tournament games against North Carolina. Arkansas won 96-73 in the 1990 Midwest Regional semifinals, lost 80-74 in the 1993 East Regional semifinals, won 75-68 at the 1995 Final Four and lost 101-77 in 2008.
North Carolina leads the overall series 4-3.
Sports on 03/20/2015