Arkansas didn't deliver style points, but that doesn't matter. The Hogs had to win on the road in the SEC, and they did.
The Arkansas Razorbacks did not play a great college basketball game on Tuesday night in Norman, Oklahoma. They still haven't figured out how to play their best away from Bud Walton Arena. However, they did figure out how to win. Hog Nation will take it after UA rallied for an 83-79 win over the Sooners to notch a road SEC basketball win and improve their chances of winning the conference championship.
Arkansas made only two 3-pointers all night long. The Hogs shot the ball extremely well from 2-point range and needed to attack Oklahoma's vulnerable defense, which they did enough to get the job done. Arkansas trailed by 12 points at one point in the game and finished minus-8 in 3-pointers made (10-2). Oklahoma clearly had more success on the perimeter. Arkansas had to be significantly better in the paint and near the rim in order to prevail. It also needed to tighten the screws on defense in the second half.
Oklahoma scored 48 points in the first 20 minutes but only 31 in the second half. Arkansas was able to carve out a 77-74 lead late in the game, but the contest almost slipped away a second time. The Sooners delivered a quick 5-0 run for a 79-77 lead.
Enter Darius Acuff. The Hogs' best player and their on-court leader was able to score the go-ahead basket on an and-one finish with 20 seconds left. Trevon Brazile then blocked Oklahoma's last shot. Meleek Thomas corralled the loose ball and made two free throws to put the game away.
This was not a masterpiece by any means, but it was an SEC road win, which is the building block of an SEC championship season and a core pillar of a top-four NCAA Tournament seed, which is what the Razorbacks are pursuing. It marked a moment of growth and increased maturity for John Calipari's team, an important step forward in a season and a month of January which have featured a "one step forward, one step back" quality at times. Now Arkansas has stacked together SEC wins and has reason to believe it can evolve into a team which wins all the time.
Win or lose, this game showed how much Arkansas can -- and must -- still improve. The fact that Arkansas got the win but retains so much room for growth and development is something which should be quietly exciting for Calipari and this team with February just around the corner.