Extra effort, quality result

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas, desperate for a quality victory to improve its No. 76 national standing in the latest ratings percentage index, got it Wednesday night by beating 10th-ranked Tennessee 82-77 in overtime before 19,684 fans in Walton Arena.
"This was a win we had to have," said sophomore guard Joe Johnson, who made sure by scoring 20 points with a career-high 14 rebounds. "We went out and played our hearts out."
Johnson didn't score in the final seven minutes of regulation, but took over during the overtime. He hit a 10-foot baseline jumper to give the Razorbacks a 74-73 lead with 2:20 left in overtime.
After Vols junior forward Vincent Yarbrough missed on the other end, Johnson drove and missed a shot, but got his own rebound as it bounced off the top of the backboard and put it back in to increase Arkansas' lead to 76-73 with 1:30 left.
The rule book states the ball is out of bounds if it "passes over the backboard from any direction."
But Tennessee senior forward Isiah Victor, who had game-highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds, said the Vols assumed it was out of bounds before Johnson rebounded.
"That's our fault, too," Victor said. "You've got to play through to the whistle."
Tennessee (18-5, 5-4 SEC) didn't draw closer than three points the rest of the game as the Razorbacks (14-7, 5-4) held on by hitting 8 of 8 free throws in the final 4:05 of overtime.
"I thought that was the biggest thing," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said of his team's clutch free-throw shooting.
Junior guard T.J. Cleveland was 4 of 4 from the line in overtime, while sophomore forward Carl Baker and junior guard Jannero Pargo each were 2 of 2.
"I wasn't worried about missing," said Baker, whose free throws gave Arkansas a 78-73 lead with 44.9 seconds left. "I didn't even think about missing."
Baker had career-highs of 16 points and three blocked shots and matched his high in an SEC game with eight rebounds while playing 40 minutes.
"Carl Baker is probably going to grade out higher than anybody," Richardson said.
In the span covering the final 16 minutes of regulation and the five-minute overtime period, there were eight ties and 15 lead changes.
Pargo scored 17 points, sophomore forward Alonzo Lane had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals and Cleveland had nine points and two steals.
"To win a game like this, somebody has to make a play," Richardson said. "We had a lot of guys make plays."
Lane, who is 6-7 and right-handed, made one of the game's biggest plays when he hit left-handed bank shot over Tennessee 6-10 senior center Charles Hathaway to tie the game 70-70 with 1:04 left in regulation to help the Razorbacks get it to overtime.
"I just made a quick move," Lane said. "There was not any thought process to it."
Tennessee senior point guard Tony Harris, who came into the game averaging 13 points and 4.5 assists, played just three minutes in the first half after suffering a sprained ankle. He finished with two points.
Sophomore guard John Higgins, who scored 16 points and six rebounds for the Vols, shifted to the point in Harris' absence and sophomore guard Terrence Woods played 29 minutes off the bench.
"I thought it hurt us," Tennessee Coach Jerry Green said of not having Harris. "He's very good against (Arkansas') pressure defense and then doing something good once he breaks that pressure.
"Not that Jon didn't a good job running team, but we missed Tony."
Arkansas 6-9 sophomore forward Larry Satchell played just 16 minutes before fouling out with 4:38 left in regulation, but he had 4 blocked shots and 5 rebounds while scoring 2 points.
"Larry doesn't have to give you points," Richardson said. "He gives you a tough presence.
"They aren't coming to the hole freely with him out there. He lays the foundation for our aggressiveness."
The Razorbacks won their fourth consecutive home game and have won 5 of 6 games since starting 0-3 in SEC play.
"There have been times earlier this year when we didn't know who was going to show up for us," Cleveland said. "But I like our team that showed up tonight, and I hope it keeps showing up."
The Vols, who lost their fourth consecutive SEC road game, weren't giving the Razorbacks much credit.
"They're a scrappy team, and scrappy at home, but if we were at an even site or at (Tennessee's) Thompson-Boling Arena, it wouldn't have been close," Vols sophomore forward Ron Slay said. "No way in the world would it have been close. No way."
"I can't say they outshot us or outplayed us. We just couldn't get the calls."
Tennessee was 16 of 22 from the line compared to 13 of 18 by Arkansas, but Victor complained about the officiating, too.
"We had good looks inside, but every other time they fouled us, they called it instead of every time," said Victor, who hit 11 of 15 free throws. "It's tough when you get half the calls you're supposed to get."
Yarbrough, who came into the game averaging a team-high 13-6 points, finished 5 of 17 from the field, including 1 of 7 from three-point range.
The Vols shot 2 of 12 from the field in overtime while the Razorbacks shot 2 of 3 -- all by Johnson.
Arkansas had the final possession in regulation with the game tied 70-70, but Johnson missed a 15-footer with five seconds left and Baker had a rebound blocked.
In the overtime, though, the Vols couldn't stop Johnson.
"Joe Johnson is a heck of a player," Green said. "He's so hard to guard, and tonight I thought he did a great job of taking the ball to the hole and then following his shot when he missed it."
The Razorbacks will get a chance for another quality victory when they play at No. 8 Florida on Saturday.

This article was published on Thursday, February 8, 2001

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