FLORIDA 87, ARKANSAS 83

Can’t scale Gators

Florida keeps grip on UA, despite rally

Florida guard KeVaughn Allen (4) grabs a rebound away from Arkansas forward Moses Kingsley (33) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game at the O'Connell Center on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 in Gainesville, Fla. Florida defeated Arkansas 87-83. (Matt Stamey/The Gainesville Sun via AP)
Florida guard KeVaughn Allen (4) grabs a rebound away from Arkansas forward Moses Kingsley (33) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game at the O'Connell Center on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 in Gainesville, Fla. Florida defeated Arkansas 87-83. (Matt Stamey/The Gainesville Sun via AP)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With a late flurry of three-point baskets, the Arkansas Razorbacks almost put an end to more than 20 years of frustration at Florida.

Almost.

Instead of Arkansas finishing a furious comeback and winning at Florida for the first time since 1995, the Gators held on to beat the Razorbacks 87-83 at the O'Connell Center on Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 9,013.

Florida (15-7, 6-3 SEC) extended its home winning streak against Arkansas (11-11, 4-5) to 11 games.

Three-pointers in the final 1:17 by Arkansas guards Dusty Hannahs, Anton Beard, Hannahs again and Jabril Durham cut what had been a 12-point Florida lead with less than five minutes to play to 85-83 with 6.5 seconds left.

The Razorbacks added to the drama when the Gators couldn't inbound the ball and had to call a timeout to avoid a five-second call and turnover.

After the timeout, Chris Chiozza inbounded the ball to KeVaughn Allen. Durham went for a steal but was called for a foul.

Allen, a freshman who starred at North Little Rock High School, hit two free throws with 5.6 seconds to clinch the victory.

"The last minute of the game, I felt like I aged a year," Florida Coach Mike White said. "They would not go away.

"They were incredible offensively. They kept pushing the ball down our throat."

Florida took its largest lead of the game 72-60 with 4:51 left when Allen hit two free throws after Arkansas forward Moses Kingsley was called for a technical foul by official Pat Adams.

Kingsley was called for a technical after John Egbunu fouled him.

The call on Kingsley happened in front of Arkansas' bench, but Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said he had no idea what Kingsley might have said or done to warrant a technical. He said he got no explanation from Adams.

"I'm baffled by it," Anderson said. "I'm still surprised by that one there. I'm kind of confused on that, let me put it that way."

It was the second technical foul called on Kingsley this season. He also drew a technical foul against Kentucky after being fouled.

"It doesn't make sense," Anderson said. "I think sometimes, those kind of plays, are ... well, I'm not even going to comment on it anymore."

Anthlon Bell grabbed Kingsley and calmed him down after the technical.

"I don't know what happened," Bell said. "I just saw the ref teeing him up, and Moses started running at him, and I knew we had to keep him under control and make sure he kept his head, because we still had a game to play.

"We can't let things get to us like that."

Instead of Arkansas taking the ball out after Kingsley was fouled and having a chance to cut its deficit to eight or seven points, the Gators went ahead by 12 points on Allen's technical free throws.

"There's no question it certainly had an impact on the game," Anderson said.

The technical foul against Kingsley counted as his fourth foul, and he fouled out with 1:26 left, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Egbunu hit 1 of 2 free throws to put the Gators ahead 78-69 after Kingsley's fifth foul, but Hannahs hit a three-pointer to start the Razorbacks' late run.

"It was a gutty performance," Anderson said. "Our guys didn't go away.

"We still gave ourselves a chance, but give Florida credit for going up to the free-throw line and knocking them down."

The Gators hit 8 of 8 free throws in the final 29 seconds, including 4 of 4 by Allen, and for the game were 30 of 36. They came into the game shooting 61.7 percent on free throws in SEC play.

"I don't think they shoot it that great, but they shot great tonight," Anderson said. "They shot enough. Then on top of that they made them, too. That's a big difference in the game."

Bell led Arkansas with 24 points and became the 39th Razorback to score more than 1,000 career points.

"We've been fighting all season, but to come back like that in the amount of time we did just shows our maturity and how the team's coming together," Bell said. "It's always the mindset that you're never out of the game.

"When Jabril hit that shot, it really gave us the confidence we could win. But unfortunately on the last play, Jabril didn't get a steal and they called a foul."

Hannahs scored 20 points and Durham added 10.

Forward Dorian Finney-Smith led Florida with 22 points and nine rebounds. Chiozza had 17 points and 10 assists. Egbunu had 14 points -- 12 in the second half -- and Allen had 10.

Gators forward Justin Leon, a junior from Conway, had seven points and five rebounds off the bench after missing the previous game against West Virginia because of a concussion.

"We showed a lot of mental toughness," White said. "Arkansas, as good as they were, we found a way."

The Razorbacks fell to 1-9 away from Walton Arena, including 0-7 in games decided by four or fewer points.

"It's tough losing close games like this over and over, but it's a learning curve," Bell said. "Hopefully, that'll help us in the future and in the postseason."

Anderson said he was proud of his players' effort.

"They brought it," Anderson said. "They came in here with the mindset of winning, and Florida did what they're supposed to do. They held serve at home."

Anderson shook his head when asked about all the close losses away from Fayetteville.

"It's tough, but it tells me my guys are still grinding," he said. "I think if you keep grinding, eventually it's going to happen for you."

Sports on 02/04/2016

Upcoming Events