It wasn't pretty, but Hogs win

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas got its expected victory over North Texas on Tuesday, but not the way the Razorbacks would have preferred.
The No. 21 Razorbacks missed their first nine shots, Coach Nolan Richardson substituted five reserves for his starters less than three minutes into the game and there was a television timeout before Arkansas scored.
Despite all of that, the Razorbacks won 97-77 before 14,183 fans in Walton Arena.
"I'm not surprised Coach took us all out, because we weren't doing anything," said Arkansas junior guard T.J. Cleveland, who was one of five starters going to the bench at the 17:12 mark of the first half. "He had to do something to get the team going."
Other Arkansas starters taken out were sophomore guards Joe Johnson and Blake Eddins, junior guard Teddy Gipson and sophomore forward Alonzo Lane.
"Nothing Coach Richardson does surprises me," Johnson said. "It's his team, and he can do what he wants, and he decided he wanted five new guys in the game."
At that point the Razorbacks were 0 of 6 from the field, including five missed three-pointers.
"They were just standing around taking jump shots," Richardson said. "When that's happening, it's better to let somebody else play, and I thought the group that went in at least hustled and got up and down the floor."
Junior guard Brandon Dean -- who entered the game along with senior guard Brandon Davis, junior guard Jannero Pargo and sophomore forwards Carl Baker and Larry Satchell -- finally got Arkansas' first points when he hit a three-pointer with 15:13 left to cut the Mean Green's lead to 4-3.
North Texas (1-5) hadn't been able to build a big lead while the Razorbacks (6-1) missed their first nine shots because the Mean Green started 2 of 9 from the field.
The teams also combined for seven turnovers -- four by North Texas, three by Arkansas -- in the first five minutes.
Dean's basket was the start of a 13-3 run that put the Razorbacks ahead 13-7 with 11:31 left in the half.
"That's our job, to come off the bench and give the team a lift when the starters are struggling," Dean said. "The starters may be off some nights, but we've still got to find a way to win."
Arkansas got 58 points from its bench, including a team-high 15 from Dean, 13 from sophomore guard Charles Tatum and 10 from junior forward Dionisio Gomez.
"We had some guys like Tatum and Gomez get in there who haven't played a lot," Richardson said. "And they were hungry."
Cleveland had 11 points and five assists without a turnover, Johnson had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Gipson had 10 points and two steals.
"Arkansas is so deep, and they all look the same to me," North Texas Coach Vic Trilli said. "We don't have the kind of depth they have. That's the difference between high majors and us."
The Mean Green came back to tie it 17-17 before Arkansas outscored North Texas 15-2 over a 5:05 span to move ahead 32-19.
Tatum hit a three-pointer to start the scoring spurt. Gomez hit 4 of 4 free throws, Cleveland scored on a driving scoop shot and Dean and Gipson got a layup and dunk, respectively, after making steals.
North Texas didn't pull closer than 11 points the rest of the game and trailed by as many as 26 in the second half, but the Razorbacks struggled to put the Mean Green away.
"They probably did take us lightly, but I think after the first four minutes when they didn't have a point, they didn't take us lightly," said senior forward Bryan Lucas, who led North Texas with 21 points and 15 rebounds. "I think after that they knew they were in a dogfight."
North Texas stayed in the game by getting the ball inside, getting fouled and hitting 26 of 32 free throws.
It would have been even closer if the Razorbacks hadn't picked up their free-throw shooting.
Arkansas, which came into the game shooting 58.6 percent from the free-throw line and 49 percent in its last three games, hit 21 of 27 free throws (77.8 percent).
"We shot our free throws that well?" Cleveland said. "It's good to know there was at least one bright spot for us in this game."
Cleveland said the Razorbacks came out flat against the Mean Green -- whose only victory is over Texas A&M Corpus Christi -- after beating Memphis 74-68 Saturday.
"We weren't ready to play," Cleveland said. "That was obvious from the start."
The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma State, a team that beat North Texas 94-56 on Nov. 28 in the Mean Green's only home game this season.
"We've got play better against Oklahoma State than we did tonight," Gipson said. "If we don't, we're going to get beat."

This article was published on Wednesday, December 6, 2000

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