FAYETTEVILLE — Alabama will have to wait to celebrate an SEC basketball championship.
The No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks beat the No. 6 Crimson Tide 81-66 on Wednesday night at Walton Arena to avenge a 31-point loss at Alabama on Jan. 16 and prevent the visitors from winning their first outright SEC regular-season title since 2002, at least for a few more days.
“Their tickets came in or whoever they’re bringing to the game, and they brought everybody’s wife and the AD [Greg Byrne] and everybody,” said University of Arkansas freshman guard Moses Moody, who scored 24 points. “They were ready to come celebrate on our floor.
“That was disrespectful. That’s how I felt — that’s how we felt. There ain’t no disrespect without retaliation.” Arkansas (18-5, 10-4) won its eighth consecutive SEC game since losing to the Tide (18-6, 13-2) in Coleman Coliseum 90-59 on Jan. 16.
The Razorbacks remained mathematically alive to win their first SEC regular-season title since 1994 — when Arkansas won the national championship.
Arkansas has its longest SEC winning streak since closing 1994 with 11 in a row.
“We knew what we had to do,” said Razorbacks forward Jaylin Williams, who had 13 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. “We knew we had to come in here with some energy, couldn’t get down early because they’re such a streaky team.
“They can get hot and make a run, and we just didn’t want to give them that. We had to show them we’re a different ball team than we were in the [first meeting].” The Tide got on a 7-0 run to start the second half and take a 45-39 lead, prompting Coach Eric Musselman to call a timeout with 18:08 to play.
“I think the biggest message was, ‘Hey look, they made a run,’ ” Musselman said of what he told his players. “ ‘We knew they were going to make a run. Don’t feel sorry for ourselves.’ ” Musselman also used the timeout to substitute in Williams, who scored 10 points during a 17-2 run by the Razorbacks as they moved ahead for good at 56-47.
“I’ve been saying this from the beginning, I just want to do whatever the team needs,” Williams said. “At the moment we were in the game, we were kind of struggling on the offensive end, and Coach Muss believed in me and put the ball in my hands to make the right choice.” Arkansas led by as many as 16 points, 70-54, on a three-pointer by junior guard JD Notae with 5:22 left.