Florida pulls rank on Arkansas

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Florida ended Arkansas' two-game SEC winning streak and probably ended the Razorbacks' slim chances of landing an NCAA Tournament at-large bid by beating them 80-71 Tuesday night before 19,134 in Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks (13-11, 5-6) dropped to 0-6 this season against teams that have been nationally ranked, while the No. 11 Gators (19-5, 8-3) won at Fayetteville for the first time in five visits since Arkansas joined the SEC.
Florida, which came into Walton Arena off a 76-73 overtime loss at Tennessee last Saturday, hasn't lost back-to-back games all season.
"We're good at refocusing after a loss," said sophomore guard Mike Miller, who led the Gators with 19 points and hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:44 to help them hold off the Razorbacks. "In the SEC, if you lose two in a row, you can find yourself in the cellar pretty quick."
Miller said being the first Florida team to win at Arkansas "is a big step for us as a program."
Sophomore center Udonis Haslem and senior guard Kenyan Weaks added 13 points each for Florida.
Freshman guard Joe Johnson led the Razorbacks with 15 points. Sophomore guard Brandon Dean added 12 points and senior guard Chris Walker and sophomore Teddy Gipson scored nine points each.
While the Gators hit 13 of 17 free throws, Arkansas was 4 of 12, including 1 of 7 in the second half. The Razorbacks had shot 80.7 percent (67 of 83) their previous four games.
"We were hitting our free throws pretty decent not too long ago," Razorbacks Coach Nolan Richardson said. "But we went back to how we were shooting them earlier in the season when we couldn't throw them in the ocean."
Even Johnson, who came into the game shooting an SEC-leading 85.3 percent from the line (29 of 34) in conference games, missed his only free throw attempt Tuesday night.
"Florida did a good job from the line and we didn't," Johnson said. "That was a big difference."
Arkansas dropped to 7-4 in Walton Arena, including 3-2 in SEC games. The Razorbacks have matched their most losses, overall and conference, in a season since Walton Arena opened for the 1993-94 season.
Arkansas also lost four home games during the 1995-96 season, when the Razorbacks were 14-4 in Walton Arena. Their worst SEC records in Walton have been 6-2 during the 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1998-99 seasons.
The Razorbacks jumped to an 8-0 lead the first 2:10 as they got three steals, but the Gators quickly regrouped.
After Florida Coach Billy Donovan called a timeout with 17:48 left in the half, the Gators scored the next seven points, including a three-pointer and driving basket by Miller, to pull within 8-7.
Florida took the lead for good at 14-13 on a 15-foot jumper by freshman guard Brett Nelson.
"We came out with a lot of emotion," Razorbacks junior guard Brandon Davis said. "But Florida settled down and got back in the game and then did the things it takes to win."
Said Miller, "We knew they were going to be ready to play and would jump on us like they did. We just had to slow them down and respond."
The Gators shot 54.9 percent from the field, including 65.2 (15 of 23) in the second half. Arkansas shot 42.6 percent (29 of 68).
"We're close to being a good basketball team, but someone has to jump up and make a big shot or two for us," Richardson said. "It didn't happen tonight ... We had some wide-open looks and couldn't knock them down."
The Gators were coming off an emotional week after beating Kentucky and losing to Tennessee in overtime for the second time this season.
"I was proud of our guys because they played with a lot of character and heart," Donovan said. "We kept our composure when we got down 8-0."
Florida committed 25 turnovers, but the Razorbacks couldn't convert enough of those into points. Of Arkansas' 16 turnovers, Richardson noted that 12 were steals by the Gators.
"They have players with tremendous hands," Richardson said. "They got a lot of hands on the ball when we had it ... We'd come out of a timeout and they'd knock it out of our hands."
Arkansas outscored Florida 9-3 to start the second half and cut the Gators' lead to 43-39 with 15:15 left on Gipson's three-pointer.
Florida then got a four-point play from Miller -- when he hit a three-pointer as he was fouled by Dean and added the free throw -- and tip-in by Haslem to push its lead to 49-39 with 13:24 left.
Arkansas went 3:24 without scoring before Johnson hit a 15-foot jumper to cut Florida's lead to 49-41.
A dunk by freshman forward Donnell Harvey and driving basket by Nelson put the Gators ahead 53-41.
Arkansas pulled within 53-46 on Dean's rebound basket with 10:12 remaining.
Nelson's basket on a 2-on-1 break put Florida ahead 61-49 at the 8:28 mark.
Three-pointers by freshman guard Charles Tatum and Davis and a 15-foot jumper by Johnson and dunk by freshman forward Alonzo Lane cut the Razorbacks' deficit to 65-59 with 6:19 left.
Weaks then hit 4 of 4 free throws -- stretching his streak to 28 in a row -- to put the Gators ahead 69-59 with 5:50 left. The Razorbacks didn't pull closer than six points the rest of the game.
Arkansas continues its stretch run against nationally-ranked teams when it plays No. 16 LSU on Saturday and Vanderbilt, which is No. 24 USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, next Wednesday at Walton Arena. The Razorbacks then go on the road to No. 19 Kentucky and No. 5 Tennessee and finish the regular season back home against No. 12 Auburn.
"Every game we have left is tough," Richardson said. "But we can bounce back."

This article was published on Wednesday, February 16, 2000

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