COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's basketball team isn't going winless in conference play.
The Tigers ended their SEC futility by beating Arkansas 83-78 Saturday at Mizzou Arena before an announced crowd of 8,211.
It was Missouri's first SEC victory in 10 tries this season and ended a 13-game losing streak, which No. 24 Florida had extended with a 93-54 pounding Thursday night.
The Tigers -- whose only season without a conference victory was when they finished 0-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference in 1908 -- avoided what would have been a school-record 14th consecutive loss.
"They seemed like they were playing for something," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "I guess they're tired of losing."
The Razorbacks (17-6, 6-4 SEC) looked ready to win their fourth conference game in which they trailed by 12 or more points, but Missouri held them off.
"They made the plays they needed to make and we didn't," Anderson said.
Arkansas, which trailed 60-45 with 15:54 to play after Missouri sophomore forward Kevin Puryear's three-point basket, pulled within 66-64 and had a chance to tie the game when Arlando Cook went to the free-throw line for two shots at the 7:25 mark. He hit the first free throw to make it 66-65 but missed the second.
Arkansas pulled as close as two points four more times, the last at 78-76 on two free throws by Moses Kingsley with 1:53 left, but the Razorbacks had three turnovers in the final 1:15 -- two by Jaylen Barford and one by Daryl Macon.
The Tigers hit 5 of 8 free throws in the final 1:51 -- including 3 of 4 by sophomore guard Terrence Phillips -- to clinch the victory.
Barford led Arkansas with a season-high 23 points and Macon scored 15, but the juniors combined for 9 turnovers. Barford had five turnovers and Macon four.
"As good as they played, they didn't do a very good job with the ball," Anderson said.
Junior forward Jordan Barnett, a transfer from Texas who became eligible after the fall semester, led Missouri with 17 points off the bench. Sophomore guard K.J. Walton had 16 points, and Puryear had 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Puryear gave Missouri a 78-74 lead with 2:16 left when he wrestled a rebound away from Arkansas senior guard Manny Watkins and hit a short jumper after a missed shot by Phillips.
"We had a big-time stop, and Puryear went and grabbed it out of Manuale's hands and had the presence to put it back in there," Anderson said.
Anderson said that despite Missouri losing by 39 points at Florida, he knew the Tigers would be tough to beat Saturday.
"They didn't stop playing, and we came up short," he said. "We didn't play like we're capable of playing, but some of that credit goes to them."
Prior to Saturday, Missouri last had won Dec. 6 when they beat Miami of Ohio 81-55.
"We lost games, and we quit talking about streaks," Tigers Coach Kim Anderson said. "We quit talking about winning conference championships and going to the NCAA Tournament.
"We just talked about each game like it's our Super Bowl. So every game we tried to play one at a time."
Kim Anderson said the Tigers continued to work in practice and play hard.
"These guys have been great," he said. "Their effort has been great. So for them to win against a great team like Arkansas is unbelievable and a special day."
Mike Anderson said he didn't believe the Razorbacks, who beat Missouri 92-73 at Walton Arena on Jan. 14, were overconfident.
"I just didn't do a good job of getting our guys ready," he said. "So I'll take the blame on that one."
Barford took the blame for his turnovers.
"It was just my fault," Barford said. "Not moving like usual. I should have moved the ball quicker than I did when I turned it over."
Missouri shot 50.9 percent (27 of 53) from the field after coming into the game shooting 39.0 percent on the season.
It was the first time in SEC play the Tigers shot better than 50 percent and only the third game on the season. They shot 62.5 percent against Alabama A&M and 51.6 percent against Northwestern (La.) State.
"We had some defensive breakdowns, but they were hitting a lot of good shots," Barford said. "They got lot of open shots. They just had a good day I guess."
Missouri shot 61.5 percent (16 of 26) in the first half to take a 47-34 lead.
"I thought in the first half we gave them too many easy opportunities," Anderson said. "They hit shots where nobody was contesting."
Arkansas finished with 17 turnovers compared with 10 for Missouri.
"I just thought we were real careless with the basketball," Mike Anderson said. "I thought we tried to do too much at times.
"We had some at the wrong time. That was a big key, and it enabled them to get some momentum."
Missouri came into the game shooting 66.3 percent from the free-throw line, but the Tigers hit 23 of 29 (79.3 percent) against Arkansas. The Razorbacks hit 19 of 27 free throws.
"Sometimes you've got to stop the bleeding, and we couldn't knock free throws down," Mike Anderson said. "We never could tie it up or get the lead, but to their credit, they kept grinding it out."
Arkansas rallied from down 13 to win at Tennessee, down 12 to win at Texas A&M and down 15 to win at Vanderbilt, but the Razorbacks couldn't finish off a comeback Saturday.
"Once we got within one, I thought we were going to win," Barford said. "It was pretty tough."
Mike Anderson said he was proud of his players' effort despite the loss.
"I'm disappointed, but not discouraged, because we had an uphill battle," he said. "We got behind in the first half, but to the credit of our guys I thought they fought, scratched and clawed and got themselves back in the game."
Sports on 02/05/2017