Hogs cruise to victory on road against Tigers

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Usually when Arkansas scores under 60 points, it's not good news for the Razorbacks.
But it was Saturday.
Arkansas survived to beat LSU 59-52 before 10,278 fans at the Maravich Assembly Center.
The Razorbacks (12-6, 3-3) had lost the last eight games in which they scored in the 50s before Saturday. They hadn't won when scoring less than 60 points in four years, since they beat Auburn 56-55 on the road during the 1996-97 season.
"I don't care about whether we scored 99 points or 59, all I want to know is, did we win?" Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "That's all that's important.
"We got the 'W' whether it's 59 points or 49 or 39. The key is to come in and win and go home."
The Razorbacks were able to enjoy the trip home Saturday night after winning their first road game of the season. They had been 0-4 away from Walton Arena with losses to Oklahoma State at Tulsa and at Oklahoma, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
Arkansas won despite junior guard Jannero Pargo, who had been averaging 18 points in SEC play, behind held to 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting and sophomore guard Joe Johnson going scoreless in the first half when he played nine minutes after drawing his second foul at the 12:56 mark.
Johnson came alive in the second half when he scored 15 points and shot 5 of 5 from the field and 3 of 3 from the line.
"It was hard in the first half when I got in foul trouble," said Johnson, who prior to Saturday had 18 fouls in 16 games. "They were calling a lot of ticky-tack fouls on me and Coach did what he had to do, which was sit me down.
"But I made up my mind in the second half I was going to be a lot more aggressive and make stuff happen."
After LSU (11-6, 1-5) took a 44-41 lead on senior forward Brian Beshara's 15-foot jump shot with 6:38 left, Johnson worked well on the high post against the Tigers' zone defense and scored eight points and had two rebounds in a five-minute span to help the Razorbacks move ahead 54-46 with 1:22 left.
"We had them where we wanted them," said sophomore guard Collis Temple III, who led LSU with 16 points. "But they kept getting Johnson the ball, and we couldn't stop him."
Arkansas junior guard Teddy Gipson said, "Joe was probably the reason we won. He stepped it up when we needed it, and that's the way big-time players play."
Gipson also stepped up big, scoring a career-high 23 points in 34 minutes and hitting 8 of 13 field goal attempts.
"You could see that Teddy had it going, you could see it in his eyes," Pargo said. "I think all the guys did a great job of finding him, and he did a great job penetrating and looking for his shot, which he hadn't been doing as much this year."
Pargo came into the game shooting 50.3 percent from the field, but he matched his season-low Saturday. He also scored two points in the season opener against Tennessee State.
"I had a bad shooting day, but I'm just as happy as I was after the Alabama game," said Pargo, who scored a season-high 24 points in the Razorbacks' 87-58 victory over the Crimson Tide last Saturday. "We got a 'W', and it doesn't matter who put up the points. We got it done and got the victory."
Pargo said he believed he took good shots, "and they felt good, but they just didn't fall for me. You're going to have that kind of day sometimes, and I just tried to pick it up on defense and do the intangible things to help our team win."
Pargo had 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 rebounds with just 1 turnover in 36 minutes.
"He still did some great things for us," Richardson said.
Arkansas also got strong play off the bench from sophomore forward Carl Baker, who had a career-high 8 rebounds; junior guard T.J. Cleveland, who had 5 assists and 4 rebounds, including one for a basket that put the Razorbacks ahead to stay at 48-46; and sophomore guard Charles Tatum, who hit two three-pointers.
Razorbacks junior guard Brandon Dean was scoreless in 18 minutes, going 0 of 3 from the field. Richardson said Dean was affected by the death of his aunt.
"Brandon is suffering from a death in his family that he learned about [Friday]," Richardson said. "It's very difficult sometimes to focus on games when you have a tragedy."
Richardson said Dean will attend his aunt's funeral on Monday, but should rejoin the team in time for Wednesday night's game at Ole Miss, when Arkansas will be going for its fourth consecutive SEC victory after an 0-3 start.
"I think finally winning our first road game should help us going to Ole Miss," Pargo said. "We should go there with a lot more confidence."
LSU, which is down to five healthy scholarship players, won at Mississippi State 82-73 on Wednesday night for its first SEC victory, but the Tigers couldn't hold on against the Razorbacks.
Sophomore forward Ronald Dupree had 14 points an a game-high 9 rebounds for the Tigers, and junior forward Jermaine Williams added 11 points.
"I think the LSU team is incredible in what they are doing to keep staying in games and having an opportunity to win," Richardson said. "LSU played their tails off against us. It was a tremendous battle, and we're probably lucky enough to come away with a victory."
Tigers Coach John Brady said his team couldn't match its performance at Mississippi State.
"I was disappointed in our team and the way they played," Brady said. "We looked tired, I don't know.
"I am not taking anything away from Arkansas, I have never said that, but I did not think they were very good, either, to be quite honest.
"I think it was two teams who played poorly, and we played the poorest of the two, and we lose. I am not sure if Nolan Richardson will say they did, but I am sure he'll take it."
No matter how points the Razorbacks scored.

This article was published on Sunday, January 28, 2001

RETURN to main page

Copyright and permissions
Copyright © 2001, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.