Head coach John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks (6-2) came from behind late Tuesday night to earn a 76-73 win over the Miami Hurricanes (3-5) in the SEC/ACC Challenge at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida.
Arkansas trailed for the entire game until freshman Boogie Fland hit a three to give the Razorbacks a 74-71 lead with 1:47 left in regulation. There were some late-game dramatics, but Arkansas managed to hold off the Hurricanes. Fland led the Hogs with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting with six assists and four rebounds.
The Razorbacks shot 48.4% from the field and 47.8% from three in the game. The Hogs had 17 team assists and seven steals in the contest. Guard D.J. Wagner scored 14 points and added five assists and two rebounds.
Miami shot 48.3% from the field and the Hurricanes were 9-of-28 from three. Guard Nijel Pack led all scorers with 22 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.
Miami led for the entirety of the first half, which featured the Hurricanes shooting 50.0% from the field with four made threes and 19 points off the bench.
The Razorbacks struggled to find offense early and often in the first half, as they trailed by as much as 11 with 7:33 to play in the half. Arkansas cut the Miami lead to five points less than two minutes later, but it couldn't close the gap anymore and trailed 40-32 at halftime.
Arkansas shot 41.9% from the field in the first half, but it had seven turnovers that Miami scored 11 points off of in the period. Eight of the nine Hogs who saw the court in the first half scored at least one point.
Wagner opened the second half with a 3-pointer to cut the Hurricanes' lead to five right away. After Miami grew the lead back to nine, the Hogs went on a 7-0 run that featured two more buckets from Wagner and triggered a Hurricanes' timeout at the 14:07 mark with the deficit cut to 49-47 for Arkansas.
Miami guard Matthew Cleveland slammed home his second highlight dunk of the evening to make it a 4-point game, but Fland drained a three on the ensuing possession and then Billy Richmond III hit a bucket out of the under-12 minute timeout to cut the Hurricanes' lead to 55-54.
The Hurricanes drained a trio of threes over the next stretch of play, but Hogs' guard Johnell Davis added a pair of made buckets — including a triple — to keep Arkansas within striking distance down 66-59 with 7:06 to play.
Arkansas cut the lead to two and both teams then traded 3-pointers just before the final media timeout of the half. Miami was clinging onto 71-69 lead by that point. Out of the break, Fland hit a pair of free throws to tied the game for the first time since it was 3-3 in the first half.
The very next possession, Fland drained a three to give the Razorbacks their first lead of the game, 74-71, with 1:42 to play. Pack knocked down a shot to trim the Hogs' lead to one, but Fland then hit another shot to make the lead three again with less than a minute to play.
Arkansas forward Adou Theiro went to the free throw line with 11 seconds to play, but missed both shots to allow the Hurricanes another opportunity to tie the game, but Miami was unable to make a clutch shot late and the Razorbacks escaped with their sixth win of the year.
Up next, the Razorbacks will host UTSA on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
