In the Lane

Botching free throws irks Jones

Image from Arkansas' 79-76 overtime loss to Auburn Tuesday Feb. 4, 2020 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Image from Arkansas' 79-76 overtime loss to Auburn Tuesday Feb. 4, 2020 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Despite another big effort from Mason Jones, the Arkansas Razorbacks could not hold on to an 11-point lead in the last six minutes and fell 79-76 in overtime to No. 11 Auburn on Tuesday.

Jones scored 40 points for the second time this season and hit for 30-plus points for the third consecutive game, becoming the first Razorback to score 30 or more points in three consecutive games. Still, Jones took responsibility for the loss, knocking his 11-of-16 effort from the free-throw line.

"This wasn't good enough tonight," Jones said. "I should have did better. This game was definitely on me. I have to go back to work.

"I missed five free throws. Good players don't miss five free throws at the crib. So I really don't want to talk about my stats because we lost."

Jones connected on 12 of 24 shots, including 5 of 12 from three-point range, as the Razorbacks played without injured guard Isaiah Joe and got no points from Jimmy Whitt, who was 0 of 7 in 40 minutes.

Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl obviously knows Jones' story of weighing more than 270 pounds before working his way into shape to play Division I basketball.

"How good is Mason Jones?" Pearl asked to open his news conference. "Wow, what a story. He is just a great lesson for young people. It's not where you start, it's where you finish. He bettered himself. He's as good as there is in the league."

Late drought

The University of Arkansas took a 65-54 lead, its largest of the game, on one of the night's best individual moves. Guard Jalen Harris blew by a defender on the perimeter, pulled off a spin move and rose high for a dunk to bring the Walton Arena crowd to a crescendo at the six-minute mark.

But the Razorbacks did not hit a field goal over the final six minutes, going 0 for 5 during the rest of regulation, including Harris' missed three-point try at the buzzer. Arkansas also missed its first two shots in overtime and fell behind 75-70 before Mason Jones hit a layup with 1:08 remaining.

The Razorbacks were 10 of 17 on three-point shots when Desi Sills connected from the left wing with 9:16 remaining to put Arkansas up 59-50. Arkansas missed its final eight three-point shots.

"We needed probably two buckets," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "Defensively, I thought we gave up too many ... I thought there was a stretch where we weren't scoring but we also gave up too many easy baskets."

'Twice as good'

Auburn guard J'Von McCormick, who wears jersey No. 5, had to come out of the game in the second half after his jersey was ripped.

McCormick came back out in jersey No. 55, one that Auburn always carries as a spare, and made several huge plays down the stretch.

The 6-foot senior hit an unguarded three-pointer with 1:42 remaining to give the Tigers a 69-68 lead, their first since 48-46 early in the second half. McCormick, a 55.1% free-throw shooter, made 6 of 9, including 4 of 5 while wearing 55, and scored 10 of his 16 points in the final 5:32 and overtime in that jersey.

"When J'Von McCormick got his jersey ripped and all of a sudden he started wearing No. 55, he became a different player," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. "So I want him in that number. He may not want to. He can do what he wants. But 55 was better than 5. Twice as good."

Ear splitter

The loudest reaction from the Walton Arena crowd came midway through the second half on a strong defensive play that led to a dunk.

Arkansas guard Jalen Harris stole the ball from a driving Danjel Purifoy on the right side of the lane with the score tied 48-48. Harris fired an outlet pass to a streaking Mason Jones, who dribbled a couple of times then launched a perfect lob pass to Adrio Bailey for a powerful dunk that set the crowd off.

Two for Reggie

Arkansas' Reggie Chaney worked hard for his first field goal midway through the opening half. He corralled a missed shot from Mason Jones in the paint and passed out to a teammate.

Moments later, Jalen Harris missed a three-point try from the right wing. Chaney won another battle for a rebound, then muscled in for a layup at the 9:41 mark to give the Hogs a 23-18 lead.

Board work

Auburn won the rebounding battle 44-27, including a 15-6 edge in offensive rebounds. The Tigers outscored Arkansas 16-6 in second-chance points.

Series stats

Auburn improved to 4-20 at Walton Arena and 5-21 in games played in Fayetteville.

Tigers Coach Bruce Pearl is now 4-1 in games in which he is physically at Walton Arena. Pearl was at the team hotel for one of Tennessee's games at Arkansas, which the Razorbacks won while he was serving an eight-game suspension during the 2010-11 season.

Bailey block

The crowd got rowdy several times in the early going as Mason Jones and Adrio Bailey combined for 3 three-pointers in the first 4:04, but they saved up a particularly good roar for a defensive play.

Adrio Bailey rejected a shot by Isaac Okoro on the right baseline, with the ball caroming out of bounds as the fans went wild.

For starters

Eric Musselman used a starting lineup of guards Mason Jones, Desi Sills and Jimmy Whitt, and forwards Adrio Bailey and Reggie Chaney for the first time this season with guard Isaiah Joe out after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

That lineup stayed in for the first 6:09 and held an 11-10 advantage when guard Jalen Harris checked in for Chaney.

Whitt has started all 22 games, while Bailey, Jones and Sills have started 21, and Chaney has 4 in a row for his first starts of the year. Bailey returned to the starting lineup and scored 11 points after coming off the bench and being held scoreless in the Hogs' win at Alabama on Saturday.

Hot no call

Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman stood on the court and stared down the officiating crew of Ron Groover, Bart Lenox and Gerald Williams as they left the court at halftime.

Arkansas fans were incensed, and Musselman apparently agreed, that the officials didn't blow their whistles on shot attempts by Desi Sills and Jeantal Cylla in the closing seconds that appeared to draw contact from the Tigers. The fans were equally vocal a few minutes earlier when Ethan Henderson was whistled for an offensive rebounding foul against Anfernee McLemore when replays seemed to show no contact.

The officials were roundly booed when they returned to the court after halftime.

Nearly 3

The Razorbacks needed almost three minutes to score their first field goal for the third consecutive game. Mason Jones broke the ice with a three-point shot from the left wing at 17:18 to give Arkansas a 3-2 lead.

Arkansas also had a dry start against South Carolina, when Jones' layup at the 15:20 mark cut the Gamecocks' lead to 6-2, and at Alabama when Desi Sills' layup made it 12-2 Crimson Tide at the 16:25 mark.

New warm-ups

The Razorbacks had a new warm-up top Tuesday. The back of the black, long-sleeved T-shirt said "Black History Month" with the shape of Arkansas and a Razorback logo at the top.

Sports on 02/05/2020

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