Hogs Win Island Classic Over Stanford in Double Overtime

Razorbacks survive scare after slow first half; better down stretch to make semis

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Nov 22, 2023 11:39 PM EST

In this story:

NASSAU, Bahamas — A missed free throw from Stanford's Jared Bynum on the front end of a 1-and-1 gave Arkansas life in regulation and set up a classic 77-74 tournament win in double overtime. They've made it three straight Sweet 16's and a couple of Elite Eight NCAA tournament doing that.

The Razorback, despite shooting poorly for the second straight game, used their advantage on the glass with 21 offensive rebounds and at the free-throw line to come back from a deficit to orchestrate a come-from-behind win.

Tramon Mark, one of the unsung heroes in the early going, put his team on his back in the second overtime, scoring the final six points on three straight interior shots. The Hogs survived two good three-point looks to seal the victory.

Stanford's Benny Gealer and Eric Musselman hard warned the broadcast about the transition three abilities. With the Hogs up 3 with just 4 seconds left in the first overtime after Devonte "Devo" Davis split a pair of free throws, Gealer launched a desperate heave and banked the ball off the window to send the game to a second overtime.

In what has become quite a theme for the Hogs started slow for the third straight game. Arkansas just 4-for-16 from the floor in the first 10 minutes and the same issues that plagued them in last week's loss to UNC-Greensboro reappeared early.

Thankfully for the Hogs, Stanford didn't start much better as both teams went to the under 8-minute media timeout in the first half struggling from the field with Stanford leading 13-11.

The Hogs' shooting woes continued, especially from deep. They are now a combined 5-for-31 in the last 60 minutes of play. Stanford's Spencer Jones led all scorers with just seven points on 3-for-4 shooting.

With points at a premium, a quick 4-0 spurt on back-to-back field goals was enough to send the Razorbacks to the locker room with a 22-20 lead in what can only be described as a sloppy 20 minutes of basketball. The two teams combined for 17 turnovers and just 16 made field goals. Layden Blocker scored his first points of the season just before the half.

Stanford saved all of their shot-making for the second half, starting the period a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor as the Hogs continued to struggle in transition defense. A wing triple from Jared Bynum gave the Cardinal their biggest lead of the night, 34-27. Stanford started the half on an 18-7 run as both teams finally found some semblance of their shot. Arkansas' leading scorer Khalif Battle coming into the game, did not have a field goal until 14:13 left in the game. A triple cut the lead to 40-34.

A quick 6-0 spurt aided by a flagrant foul called on Stanford quickly squared the contest at 42. The Hogs hung into the contest all night thanks to the extra free throw opportunities that the team created, attempting 33 free throws compared to Stanford's 24. The Hogs shot 79% from the stripe while Stanford struggled, shooting just 54%.

Jones was the only consistent player offensively finishing the night with 27 points on 10 of 20 shots.

The game continued to go back and forth. A deep triple from Davis cut the lead to 48-47. Free throws from Mark gave Arkansas their first lead since 23-22 at the beginning of the half,

Just as quickly as the Hogs got the momentum, they lost it. Maxime Raynaud, who came into the game leading Stanford in scoring was held in check with just 4 points but slammed a dunk to cap off a 6-0 run for a 54-49 lead. The Hogs hung around just long enough to have a chance. Clutch free throws from both Davis and Mark erased a four-point Stanford advantage with 35 seconds left to send the game into 10 minutes of extra pandemonium.

Arkansas now faces Memphis in the semi-finals of the tournament 4 p.m. Nov. 23. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and fuboTV .