No one said it was going to be easy. Or pretty. But the Arkansas Razorbacks are once again in the Sweet 16 after a grueling, gritty second round victory of 12-seed New Mexico State. The Hogs used lockdown defense and their trademark free-throw prowess to eke out a 53-48 win on Saturday night.
The Hogs are back in Fayetteville before heading out to San Francisco for a West Region Semifinal matchup against overall #1 seed Gonzaga. Last year’s national runner-up used a late rally to pull away from 9-seed Memphis late Saturday. This will be the second ever meeting between the two side. Gonzaga won their previous matchup 91-81 in the 2013 Maui Classic.
The Saturday night slugfest in Buffalo was something the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres – current tenants of KeyBank Center – would have loved. The first half in particular featured physical play that was largely uncalled, with the refs only blowing the whistle 8 times for fouls between the two teams. That translated into a meager 28.8% combined field goal percentage.
New Mexico State rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to take a lead in the second half, but Arkansas locked down defensively and hit their free throws en route to the prettiest ugly win in recent memory.
Let’s take a look at some things you may not find in the typical box score.