FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – With Isaiah Joe missing Saturday’s game against TCU and Mason Jones struggling in the first half, Arkansas needed someone to emerge to pick up the slack.
It wasn’t just one player to rise to the occasion for the Razorbacks, it was a pair as Jimmy Whitt Jr. and Desi Sills combined for 23 first half points and then Arkansas pulled away in the second half for a 78-67 win as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Joe was a late scratch from the lineup due to knee inflammation, an injury first suffered against Ole Miss on Jan. 11.
Arkansas led 33-29 at the half and the start of the second half was very similar to the first 20 minutes but a timely 9-3 run, capped by a Sills 3-pointer from the corner push the Razorbacks lead to 59-48 with just less than nine minutes left.
Whitt finished with 22 points while Jones emerged in the second half to pitch in 20, 19 of which came after halftime. Sills finished with 18 points for Arkansas.
