Arkansas finds finishing touch

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks may not be thrilled at the prospect of playing in the NIT, but at least now it's an option.
Arkansas' 64-55 victory over No. 19 Auburn on Sunday in Walton Arena before 19,842 fans assured the Razorbacks will be NIT-eligible regardless of how they do in the SEC Tournament this week in Atlanta.
The Razorbacks (15-14, 7-9) are the West's No. 3 seed and will play Georgia, the No. 6 seed from the East, in the first round at 8:45 p.m. Central on Thursday.
Arkansas' only chance to go the NCAA Tournament is by winning the SEC Tournament to earn an automatic bid.
"We want to go to the NCAA Tournament, we don't want to go to the NIT," said guard Chris Walker, the Razorbacks' lone senior, who scored 15 points after being honored in a pregame ceremony. "The NIT is a backup plan, and if that's our only choice, it still would be a good deal to go because we've got a lot of young players who need as many games as we can get."
Arkansas has gone to either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT the last 13 years, but Razorbacks Coach Nolan Richardson said he's not concerned about those tournaments.
"All I'm worried about is our kids playing the next ballgame and improving," Richardson said. "The most important thing is to continue to develop this team because this is one of the youngest teams in the country.
"I'm just happy that we're getting better, and as we continue to get better, wherever that takes us, that's where we'll go. If it doesn't take us anywhere, fine, we'll prepare for next year."
Freshman guard Joe Johnson took Arkansas to a 34-32 halftime lead over Auburn by banking in a 40-foot shot at the buzzer.
"We can't practice for that, we can't expect that," Auburn sophomore forward Mack McGadney said. "That's a one-out-of-a-million shot.
"But we weren't frustrated coming in two points down. We played good ball the first half, and we were hoping to do the same thing the second half."
But the Tigers (21-8), who were playing without All-SEC senior forward Chris Porter for the third consecutive game, couldn't stay with the Razorbacks in the second half and lost their fourth consecutive game.
Porter remains ineligible after taking money from an agent.
Arkansas, led by Johnson's 22 points and career-high 10 rebounds, was ahead the entire second half. Its biggest advantage was 51-42 on sophomore Teddy Gipson's three-pointer with 7:26 left, as Auburn went scoreless for more than eight minutes.
The Tigers looked beaten, but led by McGadney, who scored a career-high 19 points, they pulled within 51-45 with 5:33 left. Auburn had a chance to make it a four-point game, but senior point guard Doc Robinson's pass to Marquis Daniels for an alley-oop dunk was intercepted by Arkansas freshman forward Larry Satchell.
On the other end, Razorbacks 6-3 sophomore guard Teddy Gipson soared and scored on an alley-oop dunk with an assist from Brandon Dean -- "He went over the ceiling to get it and put it back in," Richardson said -- and Arkansas led 53-45 with 4:17 left.
"We didn't get it, they did," Auburn Coach Cliff Ellis said of the alley-oop plays. "Big swing."
The Tigers again cut their deficit to six points and were still in the game when Walker missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:47 left.
But Arkansas freshman forward Carl Baker got the rebound and was fouled. He hit his first free throw and missed the second, but Johnson got the rebound. The Tigers were back to fouling Walker, and by then the clock was down to 1:24. Arkansas' lead was up to eight points when Walker hit 1 of 2 from the line.
Walker and Johnson combined to hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:07 to clinch the victory.
"It feels good to have our hard work pay off and be able to win a close one," Walker said. "Winning here on Senior Day is an indescribable feeling, and I appreciate these guys for sending me out in good fashion."
Auburn junior guard Scott Pohlman, who led the Tigers with 21 points in their 73-55 victory over Arkansas a month ago, was scoreless Sunday, shooting 0 of 5 from the field.
The Razorbacks used a box-and-one defense on Pohlman in the second half with Gipson or Dean chasing him.
"Their goal was to keep him out of the game, and they did," Ellis said.
Richardson said that after Pohlman was 0 of 2 in the first half, he would have been a more determined shooter in the second, so the Razorbacks wanted to give him extra attention.
"When a good player hasn't gotten enough shots, you can tell he's coming back to shoot a lot more," Richardson said. "That's when we said, 'We've got to deny him the ball because we don't want him to get hot,' and Brandon and Teddy did an excellent job on him."
Gipson also picked up his offense in the second half, when he scored all seven of his points after committing three turnovers in the first half.
"Teddy started slow but turned it on late," Richardson said.
Gipson is hoping that's what the Razorbacks can do, too.
"We're getting better every day and learning how to finish games," Gipson said. "If we can do a good job of that, there's no telling how far we can go.
"We want to get to the SEC Tournament championship game and hope we can win it."
If that doesn't happen, Arkansas always can come back home for the NIT.

This article was published on Monday, March 6, 2000

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