FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas men's basketball team and Razorbacks junior guard Ricky Council had big comebacks on Wednesday night.
The No. 13 Razorbacks rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half to beat No. 20 Missouri 74-68 at Walton Arena with Council scoring 21 of his 25 points in the second half.
It was the second-largest comeback for Arkansas in Eric Musselman's four seasons as coach. The Razorbacks beat Auburn 75-73 two years ago at Walton Arena after trailing by 19 points, 37-18, with 4:17 left in the first half.
Arkansas outscored Missouri 47-34 in the second half, when the Razorbacks shot 61.5% (16 of 26) from the field.
"I credit Arkansas and their guys for playing an unbelievable second half of basketball," Tigers Coach Dennis Gates said.
Arkansas (12-2, 1-1 SEC) won its 18th consecutive game at Walton Arena since losing its conference home opener to Vanderbilt 75-74 last season.
Missouri (12-2, 1-1) was trying to get a third consecutive victory over a ranked team for the first time after beating Illinois 93-71 and Kentucky 89-75 the previous two games.
"We knew they were a team that comes out and punches teams in the mouth real early," said Arkansas freshman guard Joseph Pinion, who had a season-high 13 points off the bench and hit 3 of 6 three-pointers. "We had to be prepared for that.
"We didn't really show it, but I feel like we were pretty prepared for it. Like, once they get their hits over, it's our time to come right back at them."
After Missouri started 7 of 11 from the field to jump out to a 25-8 lead, the Razorbacks closed the first half on an 8-0 run -- capped by Pinion's three-pointer with 30 seconds left -- to pull within 34-27.
Arkansas opened the second half by outscoring Missouri 19-8 to move ahead 46-42 on Pinion's three-pointer with 14:23 left with an assist from freshman guard Anthony Black.
The Tigers tied it 46-46 on a dunk by Aidan Shaw.
Council's three-pointer put Arkansas ahead to stay at 49-46 with 10:45 left.
"I didn't really shoot that good tonight, but I just had to keep shooting, you know?" said Council, who was 6 of 15 from the field. "It went in, we took the lead and it was just good for us.
"I need to shoot like Joseph, though. It'd be a lot easier."
Musselman credited Council with hitting a clutch shot to break the tie.
"The hardest thing in basketball is when the play breaks down, do you have enough players that can create your own shot?" Musselman said. "And Ricky is one guy in particular that does a great job of creating his own shot. "
A three-point play by Council with 7:25 left pushed Arkansas' lead to 56-48.
"Once they took that lead, we were playing uphill," Gates said. "We missed eight straight shots and I don't think we were able to execute how we needed to execute.
"Arkansas started the game 8 for 26 and ended the game 16 for 21 and lived at the free-throw line. So credit to them. They did a great job. Great atmosphere."
Missouri cut its deficit to 69-66 with 27.3 seconds left when senior guard Nick Honor hit 1 of 2 free throws.
Council hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 25.7 seconds to seal the victory. He finished 11 of 13 from the free throw line.
"We just kept fighting, kept pushing," Council said.
Arkansas junior guard Davonte "Devo" Davis had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
"I thought his all-around game was phenomenal," Musselman said.
Musselman credited Davis with his defense against Missouri guard D'Moi Hodge, who scored six points after coming into the game averaging 16.5.
"I thought Devo did a great, great job of containing one of the league's best scorers," Musselman said. "And obviously his rebounds and assists and all that."
Arkansas hit 16 of 23 free throws, including 11 of 13 in the second half. Missouri was 4 of 7 in the second half and finished 14 of 21.
"I thought our guys were aggressive going [to the basket] in that second half," Gates said. "We just didn't come away with the calls that we talked about at halftime that we were going to be able to get that we saw in the first half from a consistency standpoint."
Arkansas senior forward Makhi Mitchell was limited to 15 minutes after drawing two fouls in the first half, but he finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
Senior forward Kamani Johnson had 5 points, 8 rebounds and 1 steal for the Razorbacks. Black had 6 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds and freshman forward Jordan Walsh added 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.
Senior guard Sean East led Missouri with 13 points, Honor had 12 and senior forward Kobe Brown 11.
The Razorbacks shot 48.1% (26 of 54) and outrebounded the Tigers 40-23.
"I just thought whenever we did get a stop they ended up getting the rebound and ended up making a big, big play," Gates said. "So second-chance points in the second half hurt us, and ultimately we were just stifled."
Arkansas had 15 offensive rebounds -- three each by Johnson, Mitchell and Walsh -- and outscored Missouri 17-8 in second-chance points.
"You have a dilemma because they're a great fast-break transition team," Musselman said of the Tigers. "Do you hit the offensive glass or do you get back?
"Those are two decisions you have to make, and we obviously decided to crash the offensive glass and not send two or three back.
"We sent four, sometimes five to the offensive glass. They do a great job of sometimes leaking out and getting transition baskets, but I thought we had some really good individual defensive performances."
Game sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 12-2, 1-1 SEC; Missouri 12-2, 1-1
STARS Arkansas junior guards Ricky Council (25 points, 7 rebounds) and Davonte Davis (10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and freshman guard Joseph Pinion (13 points). Missouri senior guard Sean East (13 points).
KEY STAT The Razorbacks outrebounded the Tigers 40-23.