Thompson comes up the biggest

ATHENS, Ga. — Six NBA teams had scouts at Tuesday night’s game in Stegeman Coliseum.

The Cavaliers, Clippers, Hawks, Heat, Nets and Wizards no doubt were scouting Georgia 6-8 senior forward Yante Maten — who came into the game leading the SEC in scoring (19.6) and rebounding (9.1). They also likely wanted to get a look at Daniel Gafford, the Arkansas Razorbacks’ athletic 6-11 freshman.

But it was Razorbacks 6-8 senior Trey Thompson who had the final word inside.

Thompson blocked a shot by Maten with 2.2 seconds left to preserve what became an 80-77 double-overtime victory for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville after Daryl Macon hit two free throws with one second left.

If Maten, who had 26 points and 15 rebounds, had scored a last-second basket, Georgia would have taken a 79-78 lead.

Thompson came off his man to play help defense on Maten.

“To me, that’s an IQ thing by Trey,” Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. “He was in the right place at the right time.

“Daniel is a freshman, and he may not have been there. But Trey, because of his basketball IQ , it put him in that spot. He anticipated what was going to happen.”

Thompson saw that Anton Beard, a 6-0 senior guard, was trying to guard Maten.

“It was a scramble,” Thompson said. “Ton was down on the block on a mismatch, and he gave me a split second to come down there and help him.

“You can’t stop a player like Maten. We just tried to make it tough for him. We made a play at the end.”

Asked about the play after the game, Maten credited Thompson for making a clean block on him.

It was Thompson’s 13th blocked shot this season, but second of the game. He has 68 career blocks.

“I don’t know where Trey came from, but that was a big play when he blocked Maten at the end,” Arkansas senior guard Daryl Macon said. “That’s probably the biggest play Trey has made.”