COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men’s Basketball triumphed in overtime, defeating Arkansas, 83-79, in the fifth annual Rally for Rhyan game on Saturday. Mizzou (11-12, 3-7 SEC) improved to 5-0 in Rally For Rhyan games and 4-0 in the last four contests against Arkansas (16-7, 4-6 SEC) at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers outrebounded the Razorbacks, 52-35, the most boards since Mizzou tallied 55 against Florida in 2017.
Sophomore Xavier Pinson paced the Tigers, scoring a career-high 24 points. With 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds on the day, Reed Nikko secured his first career double-double. Javon Pickett and Dru Smith also scored in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Mizzou fell behind Arkansas at the beginning of the first half with both offenses struggling to score. That was until Mizzou erupted with a 13-2 run to give them a nine-point advantage halfway through the period. The Tigers led 36-30 at the half.
The Razorbacks battled back, however, opening the second half on a 12-6 run to tie the game at 42. Mizzou and Arkansas traded blows for the remainder of regulation, as neither team was able to gain the advantage. In overtime, Pinson took over, scoring seven of the Tigers’ 16 points to lead Mizzou to victory.
Mizzou finished the day raising more than $80,000 total to help in the fight against pediatric cancer.