Peeved Hogs hammer Demons

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas had 11 days to stew over its last game, a one-point loss to Oklahoma State. The Razorbacks took out any leftover frustrations on Northwestern (La.) State, whipping the Demons 115-47 before 15,220 at Walton Arena on Wednesday night.
Junior guard Brandon Dean scored 13 of his 20 points off the bench in the first half as the 25th-ranked Razorbacks (7-2) outscored the Demons 43-9 over the final 15:59 of the first half to build a commanding 52-16 halftime lead.
"That's probably the best game we've played after a layoff that I've ever had a team play," Coach Nolan Richardson said after his team handed Northwestern State the worst loss in its 86-year history.
Arkansas shot a season-best 60.3 percent from the field, including 12-of-21 from three-point range, and forced 31 turnovers while committing just 10.
"That was exactly what we wanted to do," said junior guard Jannero Pargo, who also had 20 points. "The 11-day layoff gave us a lot of time to work on some things that we needed to adjust to, and the guys got pretty hungry. We needed to get a win under our belt after the Oklahoma State game."
Richardson said getting to play a game after so many days of nothing but practice probably put the Razorbacks in a foul mood.
"After you've been with me for a week or 10 days, anything's better than me," Richardson said.
Dean concurred.
"We were very eager to go out there and play somebody," Dean said. "We've been practicing it seemed like forever. To finally get the opportunity to go play, and have a good showing like we did, gives us a lot of confidence going into the Oklahoma game."
Arkansas plays at No. 18 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Northwestern State (3-3), which held early leads of 4-0 and 7-4, probably wished Arkansas' layoff could have been extended by a few days.
"Sometimes the best thing for you is a good, old-fashioned, country tail-whipping, and that's sure what happened to us tonight," Northwestern State Coach Mike McConathy said.
Sophomore forward Carl Baker sandwiched a three-pointer and a 17-footer around two Pargo layups to put Arkansas ahead 15-7, and things got progressively worse for Northwestern State.
Dean was responsible for many of those things, as he made all five of his first-half shot attempts, including 3 three-pointers, in a span of 7:38.
"He can get some points, especially when he's in a rhythm, and tonight he was in a rhythm," Richardson said.
By the time Charles Tatum relieved Dean 1:04 before halftime, Arkansas led 49-16.
Northwestern State couldn't find a solution for Arkansas' halfcourt defense. The Demons committed 31 turnovers and shot just 15 of 53 (28.3 percent) from the field.
"We were just trying to show that we can win without having to press, but at the same time, still have 40 minutes of what we call hell on the defensive end," Richardson said.
The second half was almost the same as the first as Arkansas stretched its lead to 41 points on Pargo's four-point play with 17:22 to play. Pargo launched a three-point shot from deep in the left corner and was knocked to the ground as the ball went through the net. His ensuing free throw gave the Razorbacks a 63-22 lead.
"The whole team got into a rhythm, and we were all playing hard," Pargo said. "When you're playing hard and getting steals and things like that, the adrenaline starts flowing and things just start happening on the plus side for you."
Arkansas led 82-34 when Melvin Roberts produced one of the night's few highlights for Northwestern State with a two-handed dunk on an offensive rebound.
But the Demons had little time to celebrate as Brandon Davis answered with a three-pointer from the right corner 10 seconds later for an 85-36 Razorbacks lead.
Dean made his sixth consecutive shot, a jumper in transition, with less than five minutes remaining to give Arkansas its largest lead to that point, 95-36. Dean finished the game 8 of 9 from the field.
Arkansas' largest lead came on the last basket of the game, a reverse layup by walk-on Carter Clark with less than a minute to play.
Joe Johnson and Baker added 16 and 11 points, respectively, for a Razorbacks offense patiently picked apart the Demons defense.
"The execution of the offense was superb," Richardson said. "The extra pass was made and we didn't really lose the ball a heck of a lot of times for the tempo that we try to play at."
Northwestern State was led by Michael Byars-Dawson's 10 points.

This article was published on Thursday, December 21, 2000

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