Arkansas pulls out 78-75 win to hand Georgia fifth straight defeat

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- — El Ellis and Kenyon Menifield Jr. scored 15 points apiece and Arkansas held on to beat Georgia 78-75 on Saturday to hand the Bulldogs their fifth straight loss.

Mahki Mitchell added 14 points, Tramon Mark 13 and Jalen Graham 11 for the Razorbacks (12-11, 3-7 SEC), who came in having lost four of their last five but got a season split with the Bulldogs after a 76-66 loss on Jan. 10.

Silas Demary Jr. scored 19 points, Justin Hill 18 and Russel Tchewa 10 for Georgia (14-10, 4-7).

Arkansas built a 12-point lead in the second half but there were eight ties and six lead changes over the final 7 1/2 minutes. Davonte Davis found Mitchell behind the defense for an easy basket and the Razorbacks' final lead with 54 seconds remaining.

Arkansas led by five when Hill was fouled on a 3-point try with 3 seconds left. He made all three, though it was apparent he meant to miss the final attempt, and Mark added a free throw for the final margin.

Graham and DeMary both had 10 first-half points to lead their teams and though Arkansas led 34-29, Georgia could have been worse off after going just 1 of 12 from the 3-point line.

Arkansas outshot Georgia 57% to 48% and outscored the Bulldogs 21-8 off turnovers. The Razorbacks were 5 of 14 from the arc to 4 of 18 for Georgia.

Davis, Arkansas' assist leader who had started 18 of the Razorbacks' first 19 games, rejoined the team after missing three games for an undisclosed reason. He scored four points with three assists in 35 minutes.

Arkansas is home against No. 6 Tennessee on Wednesday. Georgia is host to Florida next Saturday.

------ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ------ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball