LIKE IT IS : Ugly game a thing of beauty to Arkansas fans
Posted on Wednesday, January 7, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE - Less than five minutes into the game, Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey knew.
The slugfest with Texas was going to be settled late in the second half, not the first.
It would be a shock if the old saying that it is better to win ugly than lose pretty wasn't going through his head.
A week ago, Oklahoma came in flat, fired up too late and left with its first loss of the season.
The Longhorns were not flat against the Razorbacks, but no one would accuse either team of being sharp, at least not shooting Tuesday night.
Oh, sure, both played some pretty good defense, but they missed from inside, outside and all about.
Until late, when Pelphrey, who made defensive changes like a coordinator to keep his quickest hands - Marcus Britt and Marcus Monk - in at the right times.
When Stefan Welsh took a pass from Courtney Fortson and nailed a three to cut the Longhorns' lead to 45-44, it was a rare all-net shot.
Texas' leading scorer, A.J. Abrams, who missed his first eight shots, hit a jumper that had to be reviewed to make sure it wasn't a three, then hit a deep three to put Texas up 52-46.
Then it appeared Lady Luck checked in for the Hogs. With the shot clock running down, Michael Washington threw up a prayer from behind the arc. It bounced high and straight up and straighter in to make it 52-49 with 8:23 to play.
If Tuesday night's game had been a work of art, it would have been sold by street vendors in Tijuana, Mexico. But no matter what America or the incredible crowd thought at the time, the Hogs were not going quietly into the night.
Yes, the freshmen played like freshmen more than recently, but they fought through their mistakes and Texas' screens to give the unranked Hogs a major quality victory.
The only thing uglier than the second half was the first half.
Texas will hate Tuesday's game for the rest of this season. The Hogs, young but maturing by the game, took the Longhorns' best shot and were still standing at the end, when they finally started making shots.
At halftime, the Razorbacks and Longhorns were a combined 1 of 20 on three-pointers.
The Hogs made 4 of 7 in the second half, and that was the major difference.
At one point in the opening half, the Razorbacks went 6:19 without a field goal, missing nine consecutive shots. Yet they went into the dressing room down only 31-27.
Anyone who showed up at the half and saw the scoreboard would have asked if Eddie Sutton and Abe Lemons were still coaching. Sutton, incidentally, was in the house as Pelphrey's guest and said: "John Pelphrey is a great fit for Arkansas."
Sutton and Lemons went through a few years when it was like the first one to 60 wins. Of course, there was that classic Southwest Conference championship in 1979 that the Hogs won 39-38.
That was because of great defense.
Tuesday night, it was just pitiful shooting by both teams until the stretch, and the Hogs, mostly Washington and Welsh, found the range.
Pelphrey had used nine players at least four minutes by that muchneeded halftime break.
The time off with two fouls - nearly 12 minutes in the first half - played big for Washington in the second half as he went off.
Welsh hit a driving layup after a steal to get the Hogs within one, but a minute later Britt tied the ball up, and the possession arrow favored the Hogs.
Washington wasted no time in bulling his way in, getting the field goal, the foul and a 54-52 lead.
The teams scrapped, but Welsh hit his second three-pointer with 3:31 to play for a 60-57 lead and Texas suffered its 15th turnover.
Fortson made his third field goal, but Abrams came right back with a floater and Bud Walton was on its feet and rocking with 2:14 to play.
Both teams missed, Texas got a tip, and with 48.2 seconds to play the Razorbacks led 62-61 and controlled their destiny.
Fortson ran the clock, and Washington got the dunk, the foul and his 15th second-half point. Texas missed three more times, and Welsh hit a layup for the 67-61 final.
The Razorbacks had stated their case. They deserve to be ranked.
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