COLLEGE MEN : Baylor sees red as UA hangs on
Posted on Sunday, January 6, 2008
DALLAS — Arkansas ’ basketball team looked a lot better playing in all-red uniforms in Big D than the football team did.
The Razorbacks beat Baylor 85-78 Saturday night before 10, 056 in the American Airlines Center four days after Missouri pounded Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl on Tuesday when the football team wore all red for the first time in its history.
Arkansas’ basketball team has worn all-red uniforms many times, of course, but hasn’t won in them often with its struggles away from home in recent years.
“Those guys made gamewinning plays in the red uniforms tonight,” Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey said. “Hopefully, this is something we can build on.” The Razorbacks (11-3 ) trailed 50-41 a minute into the second half, but senior forwards Sonny Weems and Charles Thomas led a comeback as Arkansas secured its most impressive victory of the season considering Baylor (11-2 ) has won at South Carolina and won the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands by beating Notre Dame, Wichita State and Winthrop.
Weems matched a seasonhigh with 21 points, hitting 7 of 11 from the field — including 3 of 4 on three-pointers. He also was 4 of 4 on free-throw attempts in the final 18. 8 seconds to clinch the victory.
“It’s a big win for us,” Weems said. “As you can see last year we had trouble on the road in the red jerseys. It’s a big win for us on the road.” Thomas had 17 points, including eight in a row to give Arkansas a 74-70 lead with 5: 15 left, and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds along with taking four charges.
The Razorbacks led the rest of the way after Thomas’ scoring spurt, but three times in the final two minutes the Bears missed three-point attempts in the final two minutes that could have tied the score.
“We just wanted this win,” said Arkansas senior forward Darian Townes, who had eight points and seven rebounds. “Normally some teams fold when they’re down by nine or 10, but we kept fighting and chipping away.” The Razorbacks also got a solid game from senior guard Gary Ervin, who had four assists without a turnover in 30 minutes. Sophomore guard Patrick Beverley added 13 points.
“Credit Arkansas. I thought they really rose to the occasion,” Baylor Coach Scott Drew said. “I thought they played like a team that’s been to back-toback NCAA Tournaments and has six seniors that are hungry and needed a game. They did a great job.” Baylor finished 3 of 20 on three-point attempts after entering the game shooting 40. 6 percent from the three-point line.
“Everybody knows we take a lot of threes,” said junior guard Curtis Jerrells, who led the Bears with 18 points but was 0 of 8 on three-point attempts. “When we’re making them it’s all good. But when we’re missing them, we have to find other ways to score. We didn’t do that.
“ Arkansas played some good defense, but those are shots we normally make.” The Razorbacks were the SEC’s worst three-point shooting team coming into the game at 28. 9 percent, but hit 9 of 15 for a season-high 60 percent.
“We had some good looks and guys stepped up and made some shots,” Pelphrey said.
The Razorbacks hit 15 of 16 free throws in the second half and finished 24 of 31 for the game.
“We feel like we came out and took care of business,” Thomas said. “We came together in a hostile environment and kept our composure and came up with a W.”
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