FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas senior Manny Watkins broke his career-long drought from three-point range in the first half, connecting on a long ball from the right wing at the 14:43 mark.
Watkins, who had been 0 for 8 from beyond the arc, clearly amused his teammates with his three-pointer.
"Is that his first this season or the first of his career?" Daryl Macon asked during interviews. "Career? Oh my gosh, it's big. That's big. I think you all know Manny's role.
"That was very exciting to us. I was speechless when it went in."
Macon was asked which was more surprising, a tip-in by guard Dusty Hannahs or Watkins' rare three-pointer.
"Dusty, he's capable of doing that," Macon said. " But Manny Watkins' three? I'm just as surprised as y'all to be honest. That was a big shot."
Watkins fired up three more three-pointers after the make, all unsuccessful, leaving him at 1 of 12 for his career.
Coach Mike Anderson said Watkins has been working to improve his three-point shot.
"Somebody made a joke, 'Hell, he missed the last three,' " Anderson said. "But he made the one, and that's playing with confidence.
"If you watched our team today, they had a lot more fun and they played with confidence and they played for each other."
Board rebound
Arkansas outrebounded Missouri 36-35 to win that category for the first time this season against an SEC team.
The Razorbacks tied Florida in their conference opener and were beaten on the boards by Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi State in successive games, including 41-29 in an upset loss to the Bulldogs last Tuesday.
Eyes in back
Arkansas junior guard Anton Beard outscrambled Missouri's Terrence Phillips for a loose ball near midcourt, but Beard wasn't satisfied with just gaining possession while on the seat of his pants.
Beard saw Daryl Macon running clear to his right and launched a no-look throw behind his back for an assist on Macon's breakaway dunk.
"That's the kind of play we talk about, exciting basketball," Mike Anderson said. "You talk about plays that can ignite your team. I thought that was one of the many plays that we had. Guys playing all out."
Stripe data
Daryl Macon's streak of 13 consecutive made free throws ended at 13 in the second half when he made 1 of 2 at the 14:02 mark. Macon's streak began at Tennessee, when he made his final nine shots from the line, and he was 3 for 3 in games against Kentucky and Mississippi State. Macon's free-throw percentage dipped from 91 percent to 89.9 percent with the miss.
Fellow guard Dusty Hannahs was 4 for 4 at the line to improve to 52 of 57 (91.2 percent) and take over the team lead from Macon.
Tigers down
Missouri has lost eight consecutive games, dating to an 81-55 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 6. The Tigers had lost their three SEC games by an average of seven points before falling by 19 to the Razorbacks. That is the largest margin of defeat during their eight-game skid, tying a 79-60 loss to Arizona, which started the streak.
Comes in 3s
Every score from Arkansas for nearly the first six minutes of the game came in a multiple of three. Jaylen Barford completed a three-point play at the 18:11 mark for the game's first points of the game. Teammates Daryl Macon, Anton Beard and Manny Watkins followed with three pointers over the next few minutes. The streak of threes was broken on Dusty Hannahs' driving layup for a 14-8 lead at the 14:03 mark.
For starters
Junior Anton Beard drew his first starting assignment since Dec. 1 against Stephen F. Austin and his third start of the season. He started in place of Manny Watkins, who had started the previous 10 games. Center Moses Kingsley is the only Razorback to start all 17 games.
Home sweet home
• Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson is 90-14 in games played at Walton Arena.
Sports on 01/15/2017