Lane leads UA to Kentucky: Hogs advance thanks to 23 from freshman

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

ATLANTA -- Arkansas will get another chance to try and get by Kentucky in the SEC Tournament.
The Razorbacks beat Georgia 71-64 Thursday night in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals against No. 16 Kentucky tonight in the Georgia Dome.
Tipoff for the Arkansas-Kentucky game is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. Central.
Arkansas (16-14) is 0-6 against the Wildcats in SEC Tournament games the previous eight years, but needs to beat Kentucky (22-8) to keep alive its hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament.
Georgia ended its first season under Coach Jim Harrick at 10-20, with losses in 11 of its last 12 games.
Arkansas freshman forward Alonzo Lane scored a career-high 23 points, going 9 of 11 from the field, and had eight rebounds to lead the Razorbacks. His previous scoring high was 18 points against Jackson State in the fifth game of the season.
"I knew if they played me 1-on-1 I could do some damage inside," Lane said. "It's just a matter of bringing energy to the game, and I felt tonight I brought some energy."
"He controlled the paint," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "But the thing that was even better tonight was that he made some free throws.
"When he makes free throws, somebody is in serious trouble."
Joe Johnson, a freshman guard from Little Rock Central who was voted SEC Newcomer of the Year earlier this week, scored 15 points for Arkansas. He scored 12 of his points in the second half after playing just eight minutes in the first half because he had picked up two fouls.
Sophomore guard Teddy Gipson added nine points for the Razorbacks.
Georgia sophomore guard D.A. Layne, who scored a season-low seven points against Arkansas in the Razorbacks' 74-54 victory at Athens earlier this season, led the Bulldogs with a season-high 31 points.
Georgia sophomore Robb Dryden, a 7-1 junior center averaging five points, matched his season high with 14 points off the bench. He was called upon to play more than usual because junior forwards Anthony Evans and Shon Coleman were in foul trouble.
Evans fouled out with 1:25 left, with Arkansas leading 67-60. He was called for charging into Johnson under the basket while going for a layup.
Harrick was then called for a technical foul, and Johnson hit both free throws to give the Razorbacks a 69-60 lead.
Arkansas outscored Georgia 10-3 over a 1:54 span, including three-point baskets by sophomore guard T.J. Cleveland and junior guard Brandon Davis, to take a 61-55 lead with 7:25 left.
After Georgia pulled within 61-58 on a three-point play by Coleman, Arkansas went on a 6-0 run -- with baskets from Lane, Johnson and Gipson -- to push its lead to 67-58 with 2:47 left.
"In a timeout I told them to pick up the pressure," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "The more intense we get, the more aggressive we are.
"Things started to happen and the team feeds off those moments. Our scramble took over ... sometimes we get five minutes of hell. We got five minutes of hell and that's all we needed to get over the hump."
Georgia didn't get closer than five points the rest of the game.
The Razorbacks trailed 36-34 after the first half and are now 2-10 this season in games in which they trailed at the half. The only other time they have won in that situation was when they rallied to beat Mississippi State 83-73 at Walton Arena after trailing 37-35 at halftime.
"We've been down to start the second half before," Johnson said. "We just had to stay poised and try to make a run, which we did."
Cleveland, who has missed the last eight games because of an ankle injury, had six points off the bench.
Johnson scored on a drive to tie it 36-36 with 18:22 left.
Georgia then went ahead 43-38 behind a three-pointer by Layne.
The Razorbacks came back to tie it 43-43 as Gipson scored on an alley-oop dunk with an assist from sophomore guard Brandon Dean and Dean hit a three-pointer.
The game featured 14 lead changes and 12 ties before Arkansas pulled away down the stretch to earn a rematch with Kentucky.
The Razorbacks played the Wildcats tough before losing 60-55 at Lexington on Feb. 26.
"I think Joe Johnson will have a big-time game [against Kentucky]," Georgia Coach Jim Harrick said, "because Lane won't be able to do what he did tonight against [Kentucky 6-10 center Jamaal] Magloire."
Arkansas became the only SEC West team to win during the first-round Thursday as South Carolina beat Alabama, Vanderbilt beat Mississippi State and Florida beat Ole Miss.
Neither Arkansas nor Georgia led by more than four points in a first half that featured nine lead changes.
The Razorbacks took the four-point lead at 9-5. The Bulldogs scored five consecutive points to go from trailing 30-29 to leading 34-30 with 3:23 left in the half after Layne hit a three-point basket and Dryden scored on a 12-foot bank shot.
Lane hit two free throws to pull Arkansas within 34-32, then Layne hit two free throws for Georgia to make it 36-32.
A layup by Lane that just beat the 35-second shot clock cut the Razorbacks' deficit to 36-34 with 28 seconds remaining in the half.
Arkansas improved to 4-1 against Georgia in SEC Tournament games.
It was the first time Arkansas has played in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks had finished either first or second in the West the previous eight years to earn first-round byes.

This article was published on Friday, March 10, 2000

RETURN to main page

Copyright and permissions
Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.