Arkansas’ Anthony Black soars for a dunk Wednesday against San Diego State during the third-place game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational at Lahaina Civic Center. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
LAHAINA — The reality of the third-place game in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational is nearly always stark.
The winner is going to leave the Valley Isle with the refreshing taste of bouncing back off a loss in the semifinals, claiming two wins in three games against quality opponents.
The loser is going home searching for answers riding a two-game losing streak.
That scenario lived out to its fullest as No. 9 Arkansas rallied from 13 points down in the first half to beat No. 17 San Diego State 78-74 in overtime on Wednesday at Lahaina Civic Center.
The Razorbacks (5-1) found a way to recover from a heartbreaking 90-87 loss to No. 10 Creighton on Tuesday.
Arkansas Razorbacks 78
“For us with 11 new players and six freshmen, you know, obviously this game was scheduled well in advance,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “If we knew that we had 11 new guys and six freshmen, you know, we probably would have asked coach (tournament chairman Dave) Odom if we could come another year because the field was really good.
“Look, San Diego State’s coaching staff I thought did an incredible job today. I mean they controlled the game for most of the game and we didn’t. We did just enough to hang around.”
The emotional game spilled over into minor fisticuffs in the postgame handshake line, and Maui police had to keep fans from fighting after the melee.
On the final play in regulation with Arkansas trailing 67-65, Arkansas’ Anthony Black missed a layup, but Kamani Johnson was there to put it back in at the buzzer.
The teams remained neck-and-neck in the overtime, with Johnson’s putback opening up a 75-72 lead for Arkansas with 1:24 to go.
San Diego St. Aztecs 74
The teams traded missed shots before SDSU’s Keshad Johnson made two free throws to cut into the Razorbacks’ lead with 39 seconds to go.
Ricky Council IV, who finished with 19 points, made one free throw on the other end, the Aztecs’ Matt Bradley missed a contested layup attempt, and Kamani Johnson made both free throws after being fouled to account for the final score.
“It’s big, especially after last night, we really just, you know, the game happened how it happened,” said Trevon Brazile, who finished with 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds. “We really just tried to put that behind us today, come back and get the win and we did that.”
The Aztecs opened a 29-16 lead by holding the Razorbacks without a field goal for seven minutes, a streak that ended with a driving layup by Black with 4:23 left in the first half. They still trailed 35-26 at halftime and finally caught the Aztecs at 61-61 with 3:37 left in regulation.
San Diego State (4-2) goes home on the heels of tough losses to No. 14 Arizona and Arkansas. Bradley led the Aztecs with 23 points.
“That was a heck of a basketball game,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. “Two teams on tired legs finding a way to gut it out, overtime, the final game — and it was exciting. I mean, it went right to the end. Obviously we wished we’d have closed better. We didn’t and ended up going to overtime and we still had chances in overtime.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
ARKANSAS (5-1)
Makhi.Mitchell 0-0 2-2 2, Black 3-11 9-10 15, Council 6-19 7-11 19, Davis 1-4 0-0 2, Walsh 3-7 1-2 7, Brazile 6-14 5-8 20, Ka.Johnson 2-2 3-5 7, Makhe.Mitchell 3-3 0-0 6, Dunning 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 27-38 78.
SAN DIEGO ST. (4-2)
Ke.Johnson 4-6 2-3 10, Mensah 1-2 0-0 2, Bradley 9-20 4-5 23, Butler 3-9 3-5 9, Trammell 5-13 2-2 13, Arop 3-3 1-2 7, Parrish 0-4 2-2 2, Seiko 0-1 2-2 2, LeDee 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 27-62 18-23 74.
Halftime–San Diego St. 35-26. 3-Point Goals–Arkansas 3-17 (Brazile 3-8, Black 0-2, Davis 0-2, Walsh 0-2, Council 0-3), San Diego St. 2-18 (Trammell 1-4, Bradley 1-7, Butler 0-1, Ke.Johnson 0-1, Seiko 0-1, Parrish 0-4). Fouled Out–Ke.Johnson, Mensah. Rebounds–Arkansas 37 (Brazile 9), San Diego St. 29 (Ke.Johnson, Bradley 7). Assists–Arkansas 8 (Council 4), San Diego St. 8 (Trammell 2). Total Fouls–Arkansas 20, San Diego St. 23. A–2,400 (2,400).
San Diego St. Aztecs 74 Arkansas Razorbacks 78 
Arkansas’ Anthony Black soars for a dunk Wednesday against San Diego State during the third-place game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational at Lahaina Civic Center. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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