Florida's comeback swamps Arkansas

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- So much for cleaning up rough play in the low post and cracking down on hand-checking.
That has been the mandate for college basketball officials this season and it's caused confusion in a lot of games, but Arkansas and Florida didn't have to worry about that Saturday when they went after each in the O'Connell Center.
"I think this was by far the most physical game we've played," Gators Coach Billy Donovan said. "And if this game was played in December, nobody would have any players left.
"Everybody would have fouled out. [Arkansas Coach] Nolan [Richardson] and I would have been playing full-court 1-on-1."
But it wasn't the coaches, or officials, who decided this game. It was the players, and the eighth-ranked Gators made a few more plays down the stretch to pull out a 73-63 victory before a packed house of 12,009.
"I thought it was a game where [the officials] let guys play a little bit more than normal," Richardson said. "I thought it was called like an NCAA Tournament-type game, and in my estimation that's good."
Beating Florida (16-5, 6-4 SEC) on the road would have been a huge lift for Arkansas' NCAA Tournament hopes, and the Razorbacks (14-8, 5-5) were in position to pull off the upset with the score tied at 57 with less than five minutes left.
"We were right there where we wanted to be, it was ours to win or to lose," Richardson said. "I'd take that every single time, and I think 75 percent of the time we'll come out winners.
"But you have to make some plays, and I thought there were about two minutes there where we had what I call game slipperage that caused the difference in the game."
Arkansas sophomore forward Carl Baker made steals on consecutive possessions by Florida when it was 57-57, but after each turnover the Razorbacks missed on three-pointers on fast breaks. Sophomore guard Blake Eddins missed, then junior guard T.J. Cleveland missed.
"I just thought we rushed things a bit and took ill-advised shots when we should have run the clock a little bit and tried for a better shot," Arkansas junior guard Jannero Pargo said. "We just got out of control and started playing run-and-gun instead of smart."
Richardson said the three-pointers by Eddins and Cleveland might have been good shots at home but not on the road, especially with 6-9 sophomore Larry Satchell -- one of the Razorbacks' best rebounders -- having fouled out.
"We had no patience on those two quick shots, and Florida is too good of a team to continue to throw it away," Richardson said. "They're going to make some shots, and that's what happened."
Arkansas guard Brandon Dean was called for an intentional foul with 4:08 left trying to prevent the Gators' 6-9 sophomore Matt Bonner from scoring inside.
Bonner hit 1 of 2 free throws to give Florida the lead for good at 58-57, then hit a three-pointer on the Gators' ensuing possession to push Florida's lead to 61-57.
Sophomore guard Joe Johnson, who led the Razorbacks with 13 points and eight rebounds, hit baskets on three consecutive possessions to pull Arkansas within 64-63.
"They've got a guy in Joe Johnson that they can go to down the stretch and he can take over games," Donovan said.
But Arkansas didn't score again after Johnson's final basket at the 2:19 mark, and the Gators closed with a 9-0 run to pull away.
Florida's 6-8 junior forward Udonis Haslem scored seven points in the final 3:31 to keep the Gators ahead, and 6-9 senior forward Brent Wright had a three-point play with 1:06 left that stretched their lead to 69-63.
Arkansas tried to answer but missed its final six field goal attempts.
Haslem had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Gators. Sophomore guard Brett Nelson scored 19 points, and Wright had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Pargo, who came into the game averaging 17.5 points after scoring 28 in the Razorbacks' 82-77 overtime victory against 10th-ranked Tennessee on Wednesday night, was held to 10 points. Pargo hit his first two shots, both three-pointers, in the game's first minute, then was 2 of 12 from the field the rest of the way, including 0 of 5 on three-point attempts.
"I had confidence I was going to make the next shot, but they just weren't falling for me," Pargo said. "Sometimes you just have that type of game."
Arkansas stayed in the game despite Pargo's subpar shooting, as well as a 33.1 shooting percentage from the field as a team and 18 turnovers compared to 17 by Florida, because the Razorbacks outrebounded the Gators 39-35.
The Razorbacks, who came into the game last in the SEC in rebounding margin with an average of minus-4.6, had 20 offensive rebounds and outscored the Gators on second-chance points 20-7.
Baker finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds, sophomore forward Alonzo Lane had 8 points and 3 rebounds, Satchell had 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, and junior forward Dionisio Gomez had 5 rebounds and 4 points.
"We were really battling them inside," Richardson said. "I was real proud of that."
Arkansas' rebounding edge allowed the Razorbacks to lead 35-29 at halftime.
"I thought in the first half, we were totally outplayed," Donovan said. "I thought their emotion, their energy, their intensity was much better than ours. ... They made hustle plays. But I thought the last 15 minutes of the game our energy level matched theirs and we had some shots go down.
"We were fortunate to win the game, and I think Arkansas is as good as any team we've played against in this league."
Arkansas dropped to 1-5 in road games, but Saturday may have represented the Razorbacks' best effort of the season -- home or away -- considering who they were playing and where.
"I'm disappointed because I thought we were going to win this game," Richardson said. "The stage was set. The kids were prepared, they wanted to play."
And the officials let them play. Both teams.

This article was published on Sunday, February 11, 2001

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