Arkansas holds off UTSA for seventh win

Arkansas guard Desi Sills (0) fights for a loose ball with Texas-San Antonio guard Keaton Wallace (22) during the first half of the Razorbacks' game on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018, at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
Arkansas guard Desi Sills (0) fights for a loose ball with Texas-San Antonio guard Keaton Wallace (22) during the first half of the Razorbacks' game on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018, at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

Arkansas' early-season struggles from the free-throw line were not an issue Saturday.

The Razorbacks entered shooting 62.7 percent as a team, but made 27 of 34 attempts from the line and held off Texas-San Antonio for a 79-67 win in front of 12,462 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

Arkansas (7-2) made 11 of 14 free-throw attempts in the final two minutes after UTSA pulled within 64-62 on a Jhivvan Jackson 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining.

Isaiah Joe made all six of his free throws in the final 32 seconds and finished with a game-high 21 points. Joe made five 3-pointers, including one from the top of the key to give the Razorbacks a 53-52 lead with just more than eight minutes remaining. Arkansas never trailed again.

The Roadrunners led by as many as five points in the first half, thanks to a hot start shooting the ball. UTSA made six of its first seven field-goal attempts.

Arkansas' defensive clamped down, though. The Razorbacks had a 10-0 run late in the first half and led 35-28 at halftime.

UTSA (3-7) used an 11-2 run to take a 52-48 lead with 9:07 remaining, but the Roadrunners missed 15 of their final 18 shot attempts.

Daniel Gafford (13 points, 14 rebounds) and Jalen Harris (11 points, 10 assists) had double-doubles for the Razorbacks, and freshman forward Reggie Chaney had a big game off the bench with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots.

Jackson led UTSA with 20 points before fouling out in the final minute, and Keaton Wallace added 18 points.

The Razorbacks are scheduled to play Georgia Tech on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena.

EARLIER

Arkansas 79, UTSA 67 - Final

Keaton Wallace has made four 3-pointers, but he missed back-to-back 3-point attempts on the possession that came as a result of the flagrant foul.

Arkansas then made five of six free throws on one trip down the floor. Isaiah Joe rebounded a Daniel Gafford miss and was fouled flagrantly. He made both free throws, then was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and made two more free throws.

Desi Sills made a layup in transition and Joe had two more free throws at the end to seal the scoring. Joe finished with a game-high 21 points.

The Razorbacks finished the game 27-of-34 at the free throw line.

Arkansas improved to 7-2, while UTSA fell to 3-7.

More coming soon.

Arkansas 70, UTSA 65 - 0:43, 2nd Half

Keyshawn Embery-Simpson made one of two free throws after coming off the bench for Mason Jones, who was fouled by Jhivvan Jackson, but could not shoot the free throws because he fouled out on the flagrant 1 call.

Atem Bior made both free throws for the Roadrunners.

Arkansas 69, UTSA 63 - 0:43, 2nd Half

Mason Jones has been called for a flagrant 1 foul, his fifth of the game, for throwing an elbow. Both teams will get two free throws as a result of that last play, then UTSA will get possession.

Arkansas 69, UTSA 63 - 0:43, 2nd Half

Atem Bior made one of two free throws to snap Arkansas' 5-0 run. Jhivvan Jackson fouled Mason Jones on the ensuing drive, his fifth foul of the game. Jackson is UTSA's leading scorer and had 20 points tonight.

The officials are at the monitor trying to figure out if there is a flagrant foul.

Arkansas 69, UTSA 62 - 0:46, 2nd Half

Mason Jones' layup has put the Razorbacks ahead by seven and Arkansas is on a 5-0 run. Jalen Harris had the assist, his 10th. He has a double-double with 11 points.

Daniel Gafford (12 points, 12 rebounds) also has a double-double.

The Roadrunners have missed 12 of their past 14 shot attempts.

Arkansas 67, UTSA 62 - 1:41, 2nd Half

Jalen Harris has made three of four free throws to push the Razorbacks' lead out to five points. Arkansas has made 19 of 24 free throws tonight. Harris is 7 of 8 at the line and has 11 points.

Arkansas 64, UTSA 62 - 2:22, 2nd Half

Daniel Gafford made both ends of a one-and-one with 2:42 remaining to put the Razorbacks ahead by five points. Nick Allen, UTSA's best big man, fouled out on the play shortly after re-entering with four fouls.

UTSA pulled within two on a 3-pointer by Jhivvan Jackson on the ensuing possession. He has 20 points.

Arkansas 62, UTSA 59 - 3:50, 2nd Half

If the Razorbacks can hold on, they will have their frontcourt to thank.

Daniel Gafford and Reggie Chaney have been great this half. Gafford has back-to-back close-range baskets, the last coming off an offensive rebound. He has 10 points and 11 rebounds after being held in check much of the game.

Chaney has had a pair of key blocks since the last media timeout and has had a great all-around game, mostly since halftime. He has 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks and 3 assists.

Arkansas made five consecutive free throws to break a 53-53 tie after UTSA made one of two free throws coming out of the 8-minute timeout. Jalen Harris made the first four attempts and Gafford followed with one of two on a one-and-one.

The Roadrunners have missed nine of their last 10 shots, but are staying alive at the line where they have made 14 of 20.

The official attendance at Verizon Arena is 12,462.

Arkansas 53, UTSA 52 - 8:00, 2nd Half

Isaiah Joe's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave Arkansas the lead just before the media timeout. The shot came off a pass from Reggie Chaney, whose offensive rebounds kept the possession alive.

Chaney also banked in a shot on the previous possession to snap an 11-2 run that gave UTSA a four-point lead.

Keaton Wallace's 3-pointer as the shot clock expired gave UTSA a 50-48 lead with 10:24 remaining. Arkansas has led by as many as 10 points.

Joe has 15 points on five 3-pointers and leads the Razorbacks in scoring. Chaney has 11 points, including 10 in the second half.

Arkansas 48, UTSA 45 - 11:09, 2nd Half

Mason Jones' layup snapped a 4-0 UTSA run that pulled the Roadrunners within 46-45. The Razorbacks have made five of their last seven shots, mostly point-blank looks.

Jones' first basket - he had two free throws early in the game - came off a defensive rebound and in transition. The Razorbacks are outscoring the Roadrunners 13-5 in transition tonight.

Arkansas 46, UTSA 41 - 13:56, 2nd Half

The Razorbacks are getting great frontcourt play from Reggie Chaney and Daniel Gafford this half. Both have breakaway dunks in Arkansas' past two possessions, forcing a timeout by the Roadrunners.

Chaney has eight points this half and nine for the game. Gafford has scored three points since halftime and has five overall to go with seven rebounds. Gafford's last rebound started a fastbreak that led to Chaney's dunk off a pass from Mason Jones.

UTSA scored the game's first 14 points in the paint, but the paint points are tied 18-18 now.

Arkansas 39, UTSA 36 - 16:00, 2nd Half

Reggie Chaney got the second-half start in place of Adrio Bailey, and Chaney made an impact quickly. He tied up Keaton Wallace for a jump ball on UTSA's first possession, then he gave the Razorbacks their first points of the half with a reverse layup a little more than a minute into the half. Chaney also had a steal, his third of the game, but the Hogs weren't able to convert on the other end.

UTSA followed with a 5-0 run to pull within 37-34 on Nick Allen's 3-pointer. The run ended with a hook shot by Chaney off a drive-and-dish by Jalen Harris, who has five assists.

Arkansas 35, UTSA 28 - Halftime

The Razorbacks' defense was stifling near the end of the half. Arkansas had two steals and drew two charges in the final four minutes of the half, and the Roadrunners finished 10-of-27 after making six of their first field goal attempts.

Arkansas used a 10-0 run to take a 10-point lead after the game was tied at 23. Jhivvan Jackson ended the run with a pair of free throws 1:09 before halftime. He hit a 3-pointer on UTSA's ensuing drive to pull the Roadrunners within 33-28, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one in the final 10 seconds that would have pulled UTSA closer.

Desi Sills drove to the basket off the missed free throw and drew a foul, and made two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining.

Isaiah Joe's 12 points all came on 3-pointers and he leads all scorers. Sills has seven points off the bench. Daniel Gafford has struggled to make a dent in the scoreboard with two points, but he has six rebounds.

Keaton Wallace leads UTSA with eight points and Jackson has seven.

Arkansas 25, UTSA 23 - 3:39, 1st Half

Jalen Harris' basket as the shot clock expired gave Arkansas its current lead shortly before the final media timeout of the half.

Isaiah Joe hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Razorbacks to tie the game 19-19 and give the team a 22-19 lead. The second 3-pointer - Joe's fourth of the game - was banked in from the top of the key. Joe has 12 points to lead the Razorbacks.

The Roadrunners went 8:02 without a basket until Keaton Wallace made a 3-pointer with 4:35 left before halftime. The shot came off of an offensive rebound following a missed free throw.

UTSA is out-rebounding Arkansas 19-15 and has seven offensive rebounds that have led to seven second-chance points.

UTSA 17, Arkansas 16 - 7:29, 1st Half

The Hogs are getting some defensive stops, but points still are hard to come by. Arkansas is on a 4-0 run after a couple of close-range baskets - its first of the game - from Daniel Gafford and Adrio Bailey. Gafford also has a couple of blocked shots since re-entering the game.

UTSA is now 8-of-23 from the floor after starting 6-of-7. Its last made basket was at the 12:37 mark.

UTSA 17, Arkansas 12 - 11:33, 1st Half

The Razorbacks went on a 4-0 run out of the last timeout, but UTSA has held Arkansas scoreless in its past three possessions to push the lead back out to five points.

Arkansas has not made any of its six 2-point baskets tonight. Isaiah Joe has made two 3-pointers and Desi Sills made a 3 off the bench to pull the Hogs within 13-11. The other points have come from the line.

UTSA has cooled after its blistering start, but is still 8-for-15 from the floor. The Roadrunners are outscoring Arkansas 14-0 in the paint.

UTSA 13, Arkansas 8 - 15:35, 1st Half

The Razorbacks are not off to a good start. Arkansas had turnovers in its first two possessions and has four already. UTSA has made six of its seven field goal attempts.

Isiaah Joe has two 3-pointers to help keep the Razorbacks close. Mason Jones had the other points on a pair of made free throws.

Pregame

The Razorbacks and Roadrunners are set to tip-off at 7:01 p.m. There is no TV broadcast for tonight's game.

Arkansas is going with its usual starting lineup tonight - Mason Jones, Jalen Harris, Isaiah Joe, Daniel Gafford and Adrio Bailey. UTSA (3-6) starts a senior, two juniors and two sophomores.

More than 13,000 tickets were sold for tonight's game. It is not a sellout like last year's game in North Little Rock, but it is close. There were around 2,000 tickets remaining at the beginning of the week.

Tonight is the last time Arkansas will play in North Little Rock with the building known as Verizon Arena. Earlier this year Simmons Bank signed a 15-year, $10.5 million agreement for naming rights.

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