Florida Gators 57, Arkansas Razorbacks 56: No Escape This Time

All the attention is going to come on that last play and whether the officials were correct in calling that a foul on Alandise Harris. I'm willing to concede that their may have been some body contact before Harris blocked the shot, but it wasn't significant, and wasn't more than on plays that happened on both sides throughout the game with no whistle. It's a frustrating way to end a game that was really entertaining to watch even though both teams played pretty poorly.

The final score was 57-56. That's well below what Arkansas usually as able to produce. The Hogs only shot 40% from the field and did make six more field goals than the Gators, who shot 34.6%. But, Florida made it to the free throw line 25 times while the Hogs only attempted 7 free throws, and that was the difference in the game.

Most all of Arkansas' offense was courtesy of Bobby Portis, who had a monster 21-point, 10-rebound game, and Anton Beard, who scored 10 points, including the offensive rebound and baseline drive jumper that gave Arkansas the lead with 11 seconds left and should have been the play of the game (there may have been some body contact on his shot as well, at least the Florida defender flopped to the floor).

No other Hogs had more than five points. Ky Madden and Michael Qualls combined to go 4-18 from the field, although the duo did grab 18 rebounds, so they did contribute even if it didn't show on the scoreboard. It should be noted that both Qualls and Madden are very good free throw shooters and that points from the stripe have been a big part of their game. Qualls took the only free throw among the pair of them, and lack of drawing fouls severely limited how effective they were. I'd have to go back and watch the tape to see how often officials might have missed calls, but I can't remember the last time Arkansas only shot seven free throws in a game.

The Razorbacks were the beneficiary of missed free throws in the last seconds a week ago, which allowed them to escape Missouri with a win, but the Hogs weren't so fortunate against Florida. So far all of Arkansas' SEC games have been pretty close throughout except for the Ole Miss game.

Since the loss was on the road, it won't do too much damage to Arkansas' RPI, especially if Florida plays well the rest of the year, but it's disappointing because the win would have done a lot for Arkansas' seeding efforts. The loss does drop Arkansas to likely be tied for third place in the league by the end of the day, and makes the upcoming pair of home games more important for Arkansas to win this week.

But for now all anyone wants to talk about is that last play, so here's some red meat:

Mike Anderson on last-second foul call on Harris block: "All you've got to do is look at the replay. There's no way that was a foul."

— Bob Holt (@BobHoltADG) January 31, 2015

Wow, did Arkansas get screwed there

— Jerry Palm (@jppalmCBS) January 31, 2015