In the Lane

'Dogs foul on decisions by big men

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Georgia's big men dealt a blow to basketball intelligence with a pair of fouls that turned into a rare pair of four-point plays in an SEC Tournament first-round game Thursday night.
Robb Dryden, a 7-1 center, fouled 5-9 guard Charles Tatum after a three-pointer with 9:59 left in the first half, and forward Shon Coleman fouled guard Brandon Dean after a three-pointer with 12:19 to play in the game.
It was a tossup for which was more amazing -- that Georgia's big men were stumbling around the perimeter instead of the lane or that the Razorbacks made both free throws (the Hogs rank last in SEC free throw percentage at .591).
Dryden's foul was more inexcusable than Coleman's.
Coleman had been playing the outside of a 2-3 zone and, in keeping with zone philosophy, flared out when Dean caught the ball in the corner. Coleman's mistake was jumping out too far.
Dryden, however, was supposed to be parked in the middle of the lane near the basket and had no business being anywhere near the arc. To make matters worse, he clubbed Tatum well after Tatum had released the shot.
Both plays put Arkansas back in the lead by two points.

FAST LAYNE
Sophomore guard D.A. Layne, Georgia's gunner, made more three-point goals in the first 90 seconds than he did the entire game the last time the two teams played Jan. 12, when Layne went 0 for 5 on three-pointers in the Hogs' 74-54 victory. Layne hit his first three Thursday 1:29 into the game and finished 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

TAKE A SEAT
Each team pulled its top player early.
Guard Joe Johnson, Arkansas' leading scorer, committed two fouls and came out four minutes into the game. Forward Anthony Evans, Georgia's leading rebounder, committed his second and third fouls within 15 seconds of each other and went to the bench 4 1/2 minutes into the game.
Evans and teammate Shon Coleman were the SEC's second- and fourth-leading rebounders. Neither player finished the first half because of foul trouble. Coleman picked up his third foul and left with 5:05 to go.

SECOND SHOTS
Former Razorback Tommy Boyer was honored at halftime as part of the SEC Legends program, though technically he was a Southwest Conference legend. Boyer lettered from 1961-63. ... Temporary game and shot clocks had to be used after the regular clocks above the scoreboards blacked out during the first evening game between Florida and Ole Miss. Two backup clocks were placed in opposite corners of the floor.

This article was published on Friday, March 10, 2000

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