INDIANAPOLIS — In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Arkansas knocked off Colgate, 85-68. The Hogs advance to the round of 32 for the first time since 2017.
Moses Moody had the Hogs first five points on the day. Arkansas had four turnovers in the early going, but Colgate was shooting just over 18%.
Nelly Cummings had eight early points for the Raiders and Colgate led 14-12.
With 7:55 left in the half the Raiders would put the finishing touches on an 8-0 run. Colgate led 25-17. On the other end the Hogs had missed seven of their last eight shots.
The Colgate bench was outscoring Arkansas 19-0 until Devo Davis scored on back to back possessions. The freshman trimmed the Colgate lead to ten.
A 17-0 Arkansas to close the half gave Arkansas the lead. The shots began to fall, but pressure and hustle on the defensive end helped fuel the turnaround.
Davis hit a layup at the buzzer to put the Hogs up 36-33 at the half. Jalen Tate led the team with eleven points at the break.
Colgate would regain the lead with a 9-0 run in the second half. Jalen Tate would tie the game at 42 with 16 minutes to play.
The Raiders were shooting 10-19 from three and led 45-44 at the first time out of the second half. The Raiders were in the bonus for the last 15 minutes of the game.
JD Notae came alive in the second half. six points in three minutes put the Hogs on top 56-54.
Justin was up to 17 points and the Hogs led by five with 7:47 to play. The Colgate offense went cold as Arkansas had a double-digit lead.
The Hogs led 77-62 2with two minutes to play. They would close the rest of the game out with no threat from the Raiders.
Arkansas advances to the round of 32 for the first time since 2017.