WACO, Texas — Arkansas’ struggles closing out road basketball games continued Saturday.
The Razorbacks lost 67-64 to No. 17 Baylor in front of 10,627 fans at the Ferrell Center to fall to 0-5 in true road games this season.
Arkansas is now 14-7 overall after letting an eight-point second-half lead slip away. Baylor (16-5) won its sixth consecutive game.
"The one thing that you always want from your basketball team is to play as hard as they possibly can," Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said. "Anybody that was here walked away and saw a great basketball game. I feel for the locker room.
"They’re giving it all they have. I mean, (Baylor) is a ranked team at home coming off beating Kansas. ... Execution in a lot of different areas, I thought we were good. I thought the players did a really good job of clock management and gave ourselves an opportunity to potentially put the game into overtime."
The Razorbacks overcame a pair of first-half deficits to carry a 33-27 lead into halftime. Baylor led by as many as 11 points prior to halftime at 19-8, but Arkansas responded with a 12-1 run to tie the game with 6:35 left on an interior score from wing Ricky Council.
Moments later, the Bears grabbed a 25-20 lead. Arkansas forward Makhel Mitchell was whistled for a block as freshman Keyonte George added a bucket at the rim. Arkansas coach Eric Musselman wound up receiving a technical foul for arguing the call, and Baylor went up by five points after two free throws from LJ Cryer and one from George.
The Razorbacks controlled the remainder of the half, however. Jalen Graham, Council and Davonte Davis teamed to close on a 13-2 run over the final 4:55. Council gave Arkansas a 28-27 lead on a short jumper in the lane, then Davis added a layup and free throw, then a dunk in transition.
Arkansas also forced the Bears into misses on 16 of their final 17 field goal attempts in the first half.
"They played Kansas the other night," Musselman said. "Their offensive flow was much better against Kansas than it was tonight. I thought we surprised them a little bit with our with our half-court traps."
Baylor warmed back up early in the second half, hitting 7 of 9 shots over a stretch that pushed it back in front 45-44 following an and-1 in transition from George with 11:52 remaining.
Council provided the Razorbacks a 49-48 lead with a right-corner three and assist to Mitchell for a layup on back-to-back possessions.
Bears guard Adam Flagler tied the game 49-49 with a split at the free-throw line, then Anthony Black assisted on a Makhi Mitchell layup to give Arkansas a 51-49 lead with 6:59 left.
Flager tied the game 53-53 with a pair of free throws after he was fouled by Makhi Mitchell as they battled for a loose ball in the backcourt. Mitchell fouled out on the play with 4 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes.
Baylor forward Flo Thamba gave the Bears a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left on a pair of free throws. Graham missed a layup for Arkansas on its ensuing possession, then George added a runner for a four-point lead.
A layup by George through contact from Makhel Mitchell put Baylor up 59-53 with 2:01 remaining. After a Black layup cut the Razorbacks’ deficit to four, George buried a three for a 62-55 edge to cap a 13-2 run.
"That's what he's capable of," Baylor coach Scott Drew said of George. "I thought he really took high-percentage shots. I mean, you look at those plays and there wasn't a shot where you said, ‘That's a tough shot.’
"I mean, he made great reads, great plays, he let the game come to him and took what the defense gave him."
Council added four straight points for Arkansas to bring the team within 62-59. After Baylor wing Jalen Bridges split a pair of free throws in the final minute, Davis added a layup and free throw to cut the Bears’ lead to 63-62 with 18.9 seconds to play.
With 10.7 seconds left, Cryer made a pair of free throws, then Davis, out of a timeout, made a driving layup with 4.8 seconds to cut Baylor’s lead to 65-64.
After George made a pair of free throws with 4.3 seconds to go, Davis missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The ball was tipped to the right corner, where freshman Joseph Pinion got a clean look at a game-tying three-pointer, but missed as the final buzzer sounded.
"We have a 'Dagger' play off a free throw," Musselman said. "Missed it. Joseph ran to the exact spot that we work on all summer. Just unfortunate."
Council led all scorers with 25 points on 10 of 17 from the floor, and Davis had 16 points, 4 assists and 5 turnovers for the Razorbacks.
Graham contributed 4 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 turnovers in 25 minutes off the bench. He was 2 of 6 from the floor and 0 of 4 at the line.
Baylor was led by 24 points from George, 20 from Cryer and 10 by Bridges. Flager was limited to 5 points on 1 of 11 from the floor.
Arkansas shot 50.9% and committed 15 turnovers. The Bears finished 33.9% from the floor and 21 of 24 at the free-throw line.
Baylor was in the bonus with only 5:21 off the clock in the second half, and it made 13 of 15 second-half free throw attempts. The Razorbacks were 6 of 11 at the line for the game.
"The free throw discrepancy is the difference in the game," Musselman said.
Arkansas fell to 4-5 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, including 0-5 in road games dating to the 2014-15 season.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to return to SEC play with a home game against Texas A&M on Tuesday.