In the Lane

Dean picks right time for floater

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Brandon Dean used to shoot what's best-known as the running floater in high school, but he stopped using it because he accumulated too many charging fouls.
But the running floater reappeared Saturday and paid off nicely when the sophomore guard delivered a must-have basket with 22.6 seconds to play in Arkansas' 69-67 victory over 10th-ranked LSU.
The Hogs had seen their 13-point lead dwindle to one, and if they didn't score on their next possession they probably were going to fall behind, perhaps for good.
No open shots came from a series of passes, so the 6-1 Dean penetrated, and 10 feet away from the basket he raised his arm like the Statue of Liberty as his momentum carried him into the lane. The ball floated high over 6-6 LSU forward Jermaine Williams and dropped through the net.
"The shot clock was running down, and that was the only shot I could get off at the time," Dean said.
It was the last of Dean's 20 points. He scored 12 during a 23-4 run early in the second half, getting mismatches against bigger, slower players on screen switches.
That's what happened on the running floater, a slightly unorthodox shot.
"It wasn't the shot that I envisioned," sophomore guard Teddy Gipson said. "But it went down and it counted, and that's all that matters."

SPLIT VOTE
LSU Coach John Brady started out giving Hogs guard Joe Johnson a compliment but ended up endorsing his own player.
"He's a very good player," Brady said of Johnson. "Outside of [Tigers point guard] Torris Bright, he's the best freshman in the league."
It was Brady's borderline gloating after a victory over Arkansas in January that riled Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson. But Richardson didn't seem to mind Brady's take this time.
"I guess a guy has got to be for his own player," Richardson said. "I don't see him saying anything that maybe I wouldn't say about Joe Johnson. He sees [Bright] every day. I just say that Joe did what he had to do in half of a season."

SEVEN UP
If Arkansas wins the SEC Tournament championship today, the SEC likely would send a record seven teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, LSU, Auburn and Vanderbilt have enough victories and Ratings Percentage Index standing to receive at-large bids. Arkansas does not. But the Razorbacks would get the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth by winning today.
"If we get in, I don't see why another [SEC] team should be bumped," Coach Nolan Richardson said. "They've just got to add another spot. We've got the toughest conference in America."

SECOND SHOTS
Razorbacks senior guard Chris Walker did not score Saturday for the first time all season. His previous low was two points Jan. 12 against Georgia, also a victory. ... Arkansas has rallied from halftime deficits to win three times this season, with two of the victories coming in the SEC Tournament. ... The recording on the UA sports information department phone on Friday said: "After we beat Kentucky, we will play the winner of the LSU-Vanderbilt game at 2:15 on Saturday."

This article was published on Sunday, March 12, 2000

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