Eagles shock Razorbacks, take home tournament title

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- It was a bizarre Saturday for Arkansas that ended with a doubleheader upset split.
First the football team won on the road. Then the basketball team lost at home.
With Southern Mississippi beating the No. 15 Razorbacks 63-54 in Walton Arena for the championship of the inaugural John Thompson Foundation Challenge Classic, about the only thing the crowd of 16,372 had to cheer was the pregame announcement of the Arkansas football team's 17-10 victory at No. 13 Mississippi State that ended a nine-game SEC road losing streak.
That upset was about as shocking as the one Southern Miss pulled off in Walton Arena, where the Razorbacks are now 98-18 in their eighth season since the building opened.
The Eagles (2-0) had lost seven consecutive games against SEC teams going back to the 1994-95 season, but they never trailed the Razorbacks, jumping to a 5-0 lead they held the rest of the game.
"[Southern Miss] shot the ball extremely well and we shot the ball extremely poorly," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "I didn't think we'd have everybody on the same night shoot it this bad. I thought we'd have somebody step up."
Senior forward David Wall led Southern Miss with 19 points, followed by senior guard Brad Richardson, who added 12.
Junior guard Teddy Gipson led the Razorbacks (1-1) with 15 points and sophomore forward Alonzo Lane had 13.
Sophomore guard Joe Johnson, who was selected as the preseason SEC Player of the Year, finished with just 5 points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field after scoring 27 in the Razorbacks' 90-68 victory over Tennessee State on Friday night.
Johnson's woes didn't end in the field. The sophomore was only 1 of 4 from the free-throw line.
"When Joe can't even knock down a free-throw, he's just having a bad night," Richardson said. "It was just a bad night." Johnson was 1 or 4
Lane hit two free throws to pull Arkansas within 34-27 with 19:29 left. Southern Miss then pushed its lead to 43-31 as Richardson and Wall hit three-pointers.
Senior guard Brandon Davis and junior guard T.J. Cleveland then each took charges for the Razorbacks, resulting in possessions that had Lane hitting two more free throws and Gipson making a 16-foot jumper to pull Arkansas within 45-35.
Johnson then scored on a tip-in -- his first basket after seven missed field-goal attempts -- to make it 45-37 with 10:45 left.
The Eagles then pushed their lead to 56-44 on a three-pointer by junior forward Elvin Mims with 4:21 left.
Arkansas made a run, closing within 58-53 on junior guard Jannero Pargo's three-pointer with 1:47 left.
Arkansas was doomed by its 35 percent shooting (17 of 49), along with Southern Miss' ball-handling skills. The Eagles had just 16 turnovers against the Razorbacks' pressure defense and hitting 11 of 23 three-pointers.
Arkansas outscored Southern Miss 8-2 the final 2:29 of the first half to cut the Eagles' halftime lead to 34-25.
Southern Miss led by as many as 15 points in the half, 30-15, after it went on a 15-4 run over a 6:25 span. The Eagles had three three-points in the scoring burst, including two by Wall and one by senior guard Brad Richardson.
The Razorbacks, who started 5 of 20 from the field, got a tip-on basket by Davis scored to pull them within 30-17. It was their first basket in a 6:49 span.
After a rebound basket by Carlos Gill pushed Southern Miss' lead back to 15 points at 32-17, the Razorbacks scored the next eight points.
Cleveland made a steal and Richardson was called for an intentional foul when he grabbed Cleveland to stop a fast break.
Cleveland hit 1 of 2 free throws, then Lane scored on a drive on the Razorbacks' ensuing possession to put them within 32-20 with 2:25 left in the half.
A three-point by Gipson and two more free throws by Cleveland after another steal.
Southern Miss then got a breakaway dunk from senior guard Mario Myles with 19 seconds left in the half -- when Arkansas made a mistake on its press -- to give the Eagles a 34-25 lead.
The Razorbacks shot just 28 percent from the field in the half, hitting 8 of 29 attempts. The Eagles were 11 of 28, but 6 of 14 on three-pointers.

This article was published on Sunday, November 19, 2000

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