Arkansas, Baylor survive first round of madness

Razorbacks hold off Seton Hall, 77-71, in wild final minute

GREENVILLE, S.C.— Arkansas did just enough in the final minute to push its way through the NCAA Tournament’s first round—aided by a couple of eye-catching calls and noncalls by the officiating crew, too.

Jaylen Barford hit the go-ahead layup with 57.8 seconds left to help Arkansas hold off Seton Hall 77-71 on

Friday in the first round of the South Region.

Barford had 12 of his 20 points after halftime for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks (26-9), who erased an 8-point second-half hole and scored the final 7 points of the game to earn the program’s third straight opening-game NCAA win.

“Coach (Mike Anderson) told us to keep chipping away,” said Dusty Hannahs, who scored 14. “He knows we don’t lose our head. We’ve been down a lot this year.”

Barford’s layup off Khadeen Carrington’s turnover at the other end pushed Arkansas ahead for good. Then came a critical sequence, which

started with Carrington’s travel while being harassed by a double team near midcourt with 24.6 seconds left.

Hannahs threw the ball to Daryl Macon near the Seton Hall bench. As defenders converged, Macon stutter-stepped past them in an apparent travel that went uncalled.

Instead, Macon threw the ball to Barford, who was knocked to the floor on a foul by Desi Rodriguez as Rodriguez tried to stop the clock with 18.3 seconds left. Officials reviewed the play—which showed Rodriguez’s hands touching only Barford’s left shoulder and back, while his left foot clipped Barford’s in an accidental trip—and changed it to a flagrant foul.

“I thought it was no play on the ball. That’s as simple as that,” Anderson said, adding: “It just came at a bad time, probably the right time for us.”

Barford hit both free throws, then Macon added another to make it a 75-71 game.

Carrington missed a 3 at the other end in what amounted to the last gasp for the ninth-seeded Pirates (21-12).

“I think I made a basketball play,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t foul intentionally to hurt anyone. The officials called it another way, and that’s that.”