Hogs feast on higher seed
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --What at times has been a sour season for the Arkansas Razorbacks has turned Sweet 16 again.
The Razorbacks have endured their most losses in eight years, four losses at Walton Arena, their worst SEC loss (26 points at Auburn) and the loss of their leading scorer (Jesse Pate) and leading rebounder (Sunday Adebayo) to academic problems, but they haven't packed in the season yet.
Instead, the Razorbacks will be packing for Atlanta after beating 20th-ranked Marquette 65-56 on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA East Regional before 11,931 fans at the Providence Civic Center.
The 12th-seeded Hogs (20-12) advanced to play No. 1-ranked Massachusetts, a 79-76 winner over Stanford in Saturday's opener here, Thursday night in East Regional semifinals at the Georgia Dome. Arkansas will be making its fourth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. Kansas, which plays Santa Clara today in the West Regional, is the only other team to advance to a regional semifinal the previous three years.
Before the regular-season finale at LSU, Razorbacks Coach Nolan Richardson said that if his team could just make the NCAA's 64-team field, he would feel as if Arkansas had won the national championship, as it did in 1994. So, how does making the Sweet 16 again feel?
"It's just gravy," Richardson said. "A lot of gravy on top of making it to the tournament. Just getting here was my whole thought pattern. I don't know how many times I told my wife, `Boy, I wish we could get these kids to the big dance so they can see what it's like to be in a tournament of this magnitude.' "
The NCAA Tournament seldom has seen two teams shoot as poorly as Arkansas and fourth-seeded Marquette did Saturday. The Razorbacks shot a season-low 31.2 percent from the field (24 of 77), but won because the Golden Eagles shot even worse, a season-low 26.8 percent (15 of 56).
"If you don't put the ball in the hole, you've got to stop your opponent," Richardson said. "That's what our kids did."
Freshman point guard Kareem Reid said the Hogs, who on the season have shot 40.5 percent from the field, knew they would have to win with their defensive intensity.
"Whoever came out and stuck it to the other team on defense was going to win the ballgame," said Reid, who was 1 of 10 from the field but had 9 assists and just 1 turnover. "We got after it, and that's what Coach really wanted us to do."
The Golden Eagles (23-8) had 17 turnovers, more than twice the Razorbacks' season-low eight turnovers.
Marquette Coach Mike Deane said it was tough to adjust from playing deliberate Monmouth in Thursday night's first-round game to playing the frenzied Razorbacks.
"We got open looks, but their defense, their style, really wears you out," Deane said. "It takes such an effort to beat the press that it has an effect on the other end. I think they make you look tired."
Another key for Arkansas was rebounding, where the Hogs held a 54-47 advantage.
"That's all we could do," said Arkansas freshman forward Derek Hood, who had a game-high 13 rebounds and 11 points. "We were missing shots, so we had to limit them to one shot to try and keep it even. We couldn't let them get three or four shots at the basket."
The Eagles jumped to a 2817 lead as sophomore point guard Aaron Hutchins scored 12 of his game-high 20 points. Arkansas, which started 1 of 8 from the field and thus had trouble setting up its press, outscored Marquette 14-5 the last 5:15 of the first half to pull within 33-31.
"Early on, they hit all their shots," said freshman guard Pat Bradley, who led the Hogs with 12 points, hitting 4 of 9 three-pointers. "Once fatigue sets in, it's a different story."
Arkansas moved ahead 47-40 in the second half, but Marquette went on an 8-0 run to take a 48-47 lead on freshman guard Zack McCall's three-pointer with 8:51 to play. The Razorbacks then scored the game's next six points in a 50-second span with Marquette failing to get the ball to the frontcourt.
Hood scored on a layup to give Arkansas the lead for good at 49-48. Reid and McCall then were called for a double foul, and the Hogs got possession on the possession arrow. Arkansas sophomore forward Landis Williams then scored on a drive. Marquette turned the ball over when junior forward Chris Crawford moved along the baseline trying to inbound the ball.
Hood then hit a 15-foot jumper for a 53-48 lead with 7:40 left.
"That was a big span for us," Richardson said. "When we got the lead back, that rejuvenated our defense."
Deane agreed it was the game's crucial period.
"I think when we fell behind by six at that point, some panic set in," Deane said. "I think we got a little out of control."
The Eagles still pulled within 53-52 on a free throw by senior center Amal McCaskill with 6:12 left, but Bradley hit a three-pointer to make it 56-52 with 4:12 left and the Hogs pulled away the rest of the way.
Marquette didn't score again until the final four seconds.
It was the Razorbacks' second consecutive victory over a top 20 team. They beat 18thranked Penn State, 86-80, in Thursday night's first round. Penn State was the East Regional's No. 5 seed.
"The seeds don't mean nothing," Reid said. "They're just numbers. We just proved them wrong this week, and we're hoping to keep proving them wrong."