Auburn stands in way of bid for Arkansas

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

ATLANTA -- Arkansas started this week by beating Auburn. If the Razorbacks end the week the same way, they'll be in the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas defeated No. 10 LSU 69-67 in the SEC Tournament semifinals Saturday at the Georgia Dome to advance to today's noon championship game against Auburn.
"It just looked like they wanted it more than us," LSU junior guard Lamont Roland said.
If the Razorbacks (18-14) beat Auburn (23-8) today, they'll win their first SEC Tournament title and earn the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
The Razorbacks beat Auburn 64-55 last Sunday at Walton Arena in the regular-season finale to start what has become a four-game winning streak.
Going into the SEC Tournament, Arkansas hadn't won more than two consecutive games all season.
Now the Razorbacks have won three games in three days, including beating Georgia 71-64 in the SEC Tournament's first round and upsetting No. 16 Kentucky 86-72 in Friday night's quarterfinals.
"We said the whole year, once we get everybody back and healthy ... we were going to be a good ballclub," said Arkansas sophomore guard Brandon Dean, who scored 20 points Saturday to match his season high. "That's what we're doing now. We've matured more, and we have better chemistry, and we understand one another now.
"Everybody else has reached their climax, but we haven't. That's what we're trying to get to now."
Defense has gotten Arkansas to today's championship game. The Razorbacks forced Georgia into 24 turnovers, Kentucky into a season-high 27 and LSU into a season-high 25.
"That's my kind of game," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said with a smile when informed of LSU's turnover total. "Our kids are learning how to play.
"Early in the year we forced some turnovers, but I thought they were lucky forces. I think the way we're playing right now, we have an idea that we're going to make people cough the ball up."
Arkansas sophomore guard T.J. Cleveland, who missed eight consecutive games before the SEC Tournament because of an ankle injury, had seven steals against LSU to tie a tournament record.
"Wherever the ball is, that's where T.J. is," Richardson said.
LSU Coach John Brady said he harped about turnovers to his players before playing Arkansas, but the Tigers (26-5) couldn't handle the Razorbacks' scrambling defense.
"We got into their legs," Arkansas sophomore guard Teddy Gipson said. "And when you get into a player's legs, like Coach says, fatigue makes you a coward.
"I think that's what happened. They started turning the ball over a little bit more and we started converting on their turnovers. I thought that was the key to the game."
LSU's big men -- 6-9 sophomore forward Stromile Swift and 6-11 senior center Jabari Smith -- each had five turnovers. Swift had 13 points and Smith 12, but they could have had a lot more if they hadn't lost so many balls to the Razorbacks.
"They did a nice job of quick-handing us, slapping balls out of our hands," Brady said.
LSU led 38-32 at halftime and appeared on its way to an 11th consecutive victory after Swift dunked to put the Tigers ahead 40-32 with 19:31 left.
But the Razorbacks outscored the Tigers 23-4 over a 5:26 span to take a 55-44 lead with 12:09 left. Dean led the run with 12 points.
Maybe the Tigers came into the game overlooking Arkansas, a team they swept during the regular-season, winning by 21 points at Baton Rouge and by 11 at Fayetteville.
"I don't think our team played particularly well except when we thought the game was almost over and we were going to lose, I thought we tried to play then," Brady said. "We got more aggressive."
After Arkansas pushed its lead to 61-48, the Tigers fought back, capping a 17-4 run with two baskets off steals in a four-second span to tie the game 65-65 with 1:38 left.
Swift then fouled freshman guard Joe Johnson, who led the Razorbacks with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Johnson hit 1 of 2 free throws to put Arkansas ahead 66-65 with 1:01 to play.
After Johnson missed his second attempt, the Tigers rushed the ball up court but Cleveland stole it from Jermaine Williams.
The Razorbacks then worked the shot clock down, and Dean hit a running, 10-foot floater with 22 seconds left to put Arkansas ahead 68-65.
After LSU's Collis Temple missed a three-pointer, Roland scored on a rebound with 1.4 seconds left to make it 68-67.
The Tigers fouled Dean on the inbound play, and he hit 1 of 2 free throws for the final margin.
"We played well in spurts," Smith said. "Arkansas played well the whole game."
It marked the Razorbacks' third consecutive victory against a nationally-ranked team and second in two days over a team that shared the SEC overall title.
"We feel comfortable about anybody we play at this point," Dean said. "Our confidence level is so high that it's just hard to think that we can get beat by anybody in the country right now."
Since losing at Arkansas last Sunday, Auburn has beaten No. 11 Florida and South Carolina in the SEC Tournament to reach today's final. The Tigers are playing without senior All-SEC forward Chris Porter, who has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA after admitting he accepted money from an agent.
"I'm scared of Auburn because of what they've done in this tournament," Richardson said. "They lost Porter, but they've put that behind them now.
"They're a very good team even without Porter. They've proven it -- that's why they're playing in the championship game."
Auburn will be going for its second SEC Tournament championship today. The Tigers' title came in 1985, when they became the only team to win four games in the tournament since it was renewed in 1979.
Arkansas hopes to become the second team to pull off that feat.

This article was published on Sunday, March 12, 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.