Hogs awaken in time to put Tigers to sleep

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks, who had seemed to sleepwalk through the John Thompson Classic last weekend, finally woke up Wednesday night.
The No. 24 Razorbacks had the type of convincing home victory expected of the defending SEC Tournament champions, pounding Jackson State 107-78 before 13,417 fans in Walton Arena.
Arkansas (2-1) was out to make a statement against Jackson State (0-4) after losing at home to Southern Mississippi 63-54 on Saturday and falling nine spots in this week's Associated Press poll.
Junior Brandon Dean led the Razorbacks with 17 points off the bench, hitting 6 of 10 from the field, and sophomore guard Joe Johnson had 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Sophomore guard Charles Tatum and sophomore forward Carl Baker added 12 points each for Arkansas, Blake Eddins scored 11 and junior forward Dionisio Gomez 10.
The Razorbacks hit the 100-point mark on sophomore forward Alonzo Lane's dunk off an alley-oop pass from junior guard Teddy Gipson.
Arkansas shot 49 percent from the field (40 of 81) after shooting 34.7 percent against Southern Miss and had only nine turnovers against Jackson State.
Junior guard Eric Large led Jackson State with 21 points. Junior forward Brian Nichols had 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Tigers, who trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, pulled with 52-47 on two free throws by Nichols with 16:55 left.
Arkansas outscored the Tigers 31-5 over a 6:30 span to take an 83-53 lead with 10:27 left.
Dean led the Razorbacks run with nine points, including hitting two three-pointers. Arkansas also got three-pointers from Eddins and Johnson and junior guard T.J. Cleveland had a steal and a layup and hit two free throws.
The wear and tear on the Tigers -- from the game along with their brutal travel schedule -- was evident in the second half.
Jackson State played three games last weekend in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Top of the World Classic -- where it lost to Austin Peay (85-63), Alaska-Fairbanks (64-61) and Davidson (78-66) -- then flew home Monday, with stops in Anchorage, Seattle and Dallas, and bused to Fayetteville Monday night.
The Tigers will travel on to Jonesboro to play at Arkansas State on Saturday.
Arkansas Coach Nolan Ricardson improved to 19-0 against his former assistants, including 13-0 against Jackson State Coach Andy Stoglin, who coached with Razorbacks at Tulsa and Arkansas.
The Razorbacks' other victory this season came over another former Arkansas assistant, Tennessee State Coach Nolan "Notes" Richardson III, Richardson's son.
Dean hit a three-pointer with 50 seconds left in the first half to give the Razorbacks a 50-41 lead after Jackson State had cut a 13-point deficit to six points.
Arkansas led all the way and jumped to a 13-4 lead the first four minutes as Eddins scored eight points, including hitting two three-pointers.
The Razorbacks, who started 8 of 9 from the field, pushed their lead to 19-6 as Baker scored on two driving baskets.
Jackson State pulled within 21-11 on junior forward Richard Bradley's layup.
Arkansas increased its lead to 33-21 as Dean and junior guard Jannero Pargo each hit three-pointers.
The Tigers two three-pointers from Large to cut their deficit to 33-26.
Arkansas then went on a 7-0 run over a 1:26 span, as Johnson had a three-point play and sophomore Tatum banked in two jump shots on fast breaks, to take its biggest lead of the half at 40-26 with 5:54 left.
Jackson State responded by outscoring Arkansas 15-7 -- with Large hitting a three-pointer and junior forward Royal Maxwell 4 of 4 free throws -- over a 3:16 span to pull within 47-41.
The Razorbacks' next game is against Louisiana-Monroe at 2 p.m. Saturday in Walton Arena.

This article was published on Thursday, November 23, 2000

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