Isaiah Joe scored 21 points in his return from knee surgery and Arkansas snapped a five-game skid with a 78-68 victory over Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, Ark.
Joe, a sophomore guard, had not played since undergoing arthroscopic debridement surgery on his right knee on Feb. 4. The Razorbacks (17-10, 5-9 SEC) had dropped all five games in his absence, including an overtime setback at Missouri on Feb. 8.
Arkansas' top 3-point shooter, Joe was 5 of 10 from distance as the Hogs made 12 of 25 3-point attempts, their most since Dec. 29. They had shot 31 percent from outside without Joe, going 3 of 16 at Florida on Tuesday.
Missouri (13-14, 5-9) led 24-11 just 10 minutes into the game thanks to a 10-of-13 start from the field, but it made only four more baskets the rest of the first half. Arkansas used a pair of 10-0 runs to take a 33-31 lead with 1:22 left, leading 35-33 at the break.
The Tigers fell behind by 10 before going on a 9-1 run to trail 53-51 with 9:30 to go. Arkansas went more than five minutes without a field goal until Desi Sills, who had 17 points and was 4 of 6 from deep, hit a 3-pointer to build a 58-53 edge with 7:45 remaining.
Mizzou got as close as 65-63 with 2:43 left on a 3-pointer by freshman Kobe Brown, who had a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds, but then Joe and Sills hit 3s on consecutive possessions for Arkansas.
A 3-point play by Dru Smith got the Tigers within 71-68 with 1:17 left before Joe hit his fifth triple just seven seconds later to ice it.
Smith and Xavier Pinson had 15 points apiece for Mizzou, which lost its eighth straight road game.
--Field Level Media
