NCAA East notebook
Another Sweet 16 for No. 12
Arkansas became the ninth No. 12 seed in the 12 years since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Razorbacks joined Kentucky (1985), DePaul (1986), Wyoming (1987), Ball State (1990), Eastern Michigan (1991), New Mexico State (1992), George Washington (1993) and Tulsa (1994).
None of those previous No. 12 seeds to make the Sweet 16 were able to win a regional semifinal.
— Bob Holt
★ ★ ★ Tickets available to Regional
Tickets to the NCAA East Regional this week in Atlanta will be available at 9 a.m. Monday morning by calling the Georgia Dome at 404223-8980.
The tickets are $60 each. Arkansas plays top-ranked Massachusetts in one semifinal game.
— Stephen Caldwell
★ ★ ★
Day makes Hog call
Former Arkansas guard Todd Day, the school's alltime leading scorer and a member of the Boston Celtics, was at Saturday's game, along with his parents and his daughter, Natasha.
"I've caught their last few games (on TV)," said Day, who scored 2,395 points at Arkansas and helped the Hogs to the 1990 Final Four. "I think this team could have quit a long time ago, but they hung in there. I like that."
Day has hung in as well. After three seasons in Milwaukee, Day was traded earlier this season to the Celtics.
"It's a lot better atmosphere," said Day, who will be in action tonight against the New Jersey Nets. "There's a lot of tradition, and I'm starting to learn that tradition."
— Stephen Caldwell
★ ★ ★
Reid, Bradley have happy homecomings
Arkansas' trip to Rhode Island was a homecoming of sorts for freshmen Pat Bradley and Kareem Reid.
Bradley is from Everett, Mass., about 45 miles away. Reid is from New York City, about 180 miles away.
"It's good to win, especially in front of so many friends," said Bradley, who had 12 points Saturday. "I just wish we didn't have to fly out tonight."
Reid said about 15 friends and family members were at Saturday's game. Bradley had about 30 family members.
Players get four tickets to each game, but Bradley and Reid were able to use tickets from their teammates to accommodate their needs.
"They gave me and Pat all the tickets," Reid said. "They just handed us the list and said to fill it out."
Bradley and Reid hope to be back in this neighborhood again. The Meadowlands in New Jersey is the site of the Final Four.
— Stephen Caldwell
★ ★ ★ It’s been worse
Marquette's 26.3 percent shooting against Arkansas on Saturday was far from the lowest by a team in NCAA Tournament history.
In 1940, Springfield (Mass.) College hit 12.7 percent from the field in a 48-24 loss to Indiana.
— Bob Holt
★ ★ ★ Engskov passes on scoring opportunity
Arkansas senior walk-on John Engskov played in only 12 of Arkansas' first 30 games and averaged only two minutes of action.
Scoring opportunities have been few and far between. But when Engskov found himself alone on the break with about 20 seconds left in Arkansas' 65-56 victory Saturday over Marquette, he passed up the layup and passed to 6-foot-11 center Lee Wilson for a dunk.
"He got in and I figured he would want to score," Wilson said. "Then I saw him look at me, so I put my hands up and he hit me with the pass. He helped me score, and I helped him get an assist."
It was Engskov's first assist this season and the third of his career.
"I thought about shooting," Engskov said. "But when you see big Lee running as hard as he was, then you have to give him ball and let him dunk. That's a lot more impressive than me shooting a layup. That's got a better chance of getting on `SportsCenter' than me shooting a layup."
Engskov's brother, Kris, a member of President Clinton's staff, returned from Israel on Thursday and drove to Providence from Washington D.C., to see the game.
He didn't kid his brother about passing up the shot.
"He was just happy to see me play," Engskov said. — Stephen Caldwell
★ ★ ★
Bradley shook free when it counted
Marquette put Aaron Hutchins, its small but quick point guard, on Arkansas shooting guard Pat Bradley during Saturday's second-round NCAA Tournament game rather than on Kareem Reid, the Hogs' small but quick point guard.
That limited Bradley to 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
"A couple of times I was able to shoot over him," Bradley said. "But if they can keep me out of the game, that just opens things up for other people. Marlon (Towns) had a good game. Kareem (Reid) was able to penetrate. So if they want to stay so close to me, other guys can use that to their advantage."
Bradley shook Hutchins for two key three-pointers in the second half, one in transition to put the Hogs up 4138 and the other off a screen to give the Hogs a 56-52 lead with 4:12 to play.
"I could see he (Hutchins) was getting a little tired and leaning off a little bit," Bradley said. "So I told Kareem that he was leaning off me. We went down, and Kareem threw it right to me. I knew he was expecting me to come off the pick, so I shot it from there."
— Stephen Caldwell