Sunday, February 21, 1999
ARKANSAS 74, KENTUCKY 70
UK lacks 'effort,' 'big play'
BY RUSTY HAMPTON
Louisville Courier-Journal
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas all but eliminated any doubts about its status as an NCAA Tournament team Saturday afternoon, and in the process, the Razorbacks raised more questions about sixth-ranked Kentucky's readiness for the same event.
Led by seniors Kareem Reid, Pat Bradley and Derek Hood, the unranked Hogs held off Kentucky in the final seconds to win 74-70 at sold-out Bud Walton Arena, snapping Kentucky's six-game winning streak in the series.
Down 67-54 with 7:05 remaining, Kentucky rushed back into the game with an 11-0 run, then climbed within a point of the lead, 69-68, with 2:57 to play.
But the 'Cats could never quite get over the hump.
Chris Walker swished a three-pointer to put Arkansas back in front by four. Jamaal Magloire's tip with 2:00 to play cut it to 72-70, but Kentucky did not score again.
Hood and Reid both made a free throw in the final 43 seconds, and Kentucky missed its final six shots, including a putback by freshman Desmond Allison that rattled around below the rim before popping out and coming to rest on the back of the rim, resulting in a jump ball with 8.5 seconds to play.
It has to qualify as the most bizarre play in what has become a most unusual season for the 'Cats (21-7 overall, 10-4 in the SEC).
Kentucky retained possession.
“But that killed the momentum,” said Allison, whose shot would have cut the deficit to 74-72.
The Cats inbounded to Saul Smith, who missed a contested jumper, rebounded and missed again as the buzzer sounded.
Moments earlier, with Kentucky down 73-70, Smith missed an open three-pointer
that would have tied it. A minute before that, Scott Padgett, who scored only three points in the second half, missed an open 12-footer that would have forged a 72-72 tie.
“We weren't able to make big plays at crucial times when we had to make them,” said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.
The 'Cats didn't get a break when they needed it, either.
Allison thought his putback was in.
“I was already heading back on defense,” said Allison, who had a career-high 12 points. “I've never, ever saw that happen before. That's (Harlem) Globetrotters' stuff.”
At the other end of the court, Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson had to be smiling. Richardson called the game one the Razorbacks (19-8, 8-6) had to win to position themselves for an NCAA bid.
Said Richardson: “I think the good Lord smiled down on us on that play and said, "Hoss, I'm a Razorback today.'”
Richardson called it a “crossroads game,” the kind that could determine whether the Razorbacks ended up in the NCAAs or the National Invitation Tournament.
There is no question about which event defending national champion Kentucky will play in next month. Questions abound, however about how Kentucky will play when it gets there.
On Friday, Tubby Smith addressed Kentucky's postseason aspirations and called the Arkansas game, “A good way to measure where we are as a team.”
What he saw left him wondering.
“I was hoping we'd get everybody on the same page and get the total team effort from everybody,” Smith said. “And I'm talking about extraordinary effort, not just effort. We need extraordinary effort at this time, and leadership, and that's what concerns me right now.”
This was a game with the carnival atmosphere of tourna ment time. The announced attendance was 20,129, nearly 1,000 more than the official listed capacity of Bud Walton Arena. The frenzied crowd matched the mood of the frantically pressing, slapping and trapping Razorbacks.
They forced Kentucky into 18 turnovers, stayed even with the bigger 'Cats on the boards (39-39), collected 17 offensive rebounds to Kentucky's 14, and seemed to come up with every big loose ball or long rebound.
Allison said the 'Cats prepared for Arkansas' manic pressure. But, he said, “They got after it a little harder than I expected it to be.”
Reid and Bradley combined to hit 8-of-16 three-pointers and scored 17 each for Arkansas. Reid, a 5-foot-11 point guard, also had seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
Hood had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and freshmen Chris Jefferies, Sergerio Gipson, Brandon Dean and T.J. Cleveland combined for 21 points, 10 assists, six steals and only seven turnovers.
“You could tell by the way they were coming out that they were playing like their season was on the line,” said Kentucky point guard Wayne Turner. “It paid off for them. ... They deserved it. ... Give 'em credit where credit is due.”
What bothered Smith is that his players knew what to expect but didn't respond.
Turner, a senior captain, spent 10 minutes of the first half on the bench with two fouls. He ended up taking three shots and scoring three points, seven below his average.
KENTUCKY (70)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Evans 16 1-2 2-2 1-4 1 0 4
Padgett 35 5-16 0-0 1-6 2 2 14
Bradley 12 0-1 1-4 0-0 0 0 1
Turner 28 1-3 1-3 0-0 5 3 3
Allison 32 3-5 5-6 1-5 6 3 12
Magloire 28 7-12 0-0 4-11 0 1 14
Prince 13 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 0 3
Hogan 11 3-5 0-0 0-1 0 1 7
Smith 23 4-8 0-1 2-5 1 4 10
Camara 2 1-1 0-1 1-2 0 0 2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-57 9-17 10-35 15 14 70
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.456, FT-.529. 3-Point Goals:
9-18, .500 (Padgett 4-8, Allison 1-2, Prince 1-1,
Hogan 1-2, Smith 2-5). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked
shots: 5 (Padgett 2, Magloire 2, Prince).
Turnovers: 18 (Evans 3, Turner 3, Allison 2,
Bradley 2, Magloire 2, Smith 2, Camara, Hogan,
Padgett, Prince). Steals: 6 (Allison 2, Padgett
2, Magloire, Smith).
ARKANSAS (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Jefferies 22 3-9 0-0 2-8 5 1 6
Walker 23 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 7
Hood 35 4-7 4-7 3-10 3 3 12
Reid 34 6-15 1-2 5-7 5 2 17
Bradley 34 7-16 0-0 0-0 2 1 17
Jennings 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Gipson 19 2-6 0-0 2-3 0 3 4
Dean 11 2-5 0-0 2-3 1 1 4
Cleveland 20 3-5 0-0 1-5 4 1 7
Gilbert 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Davenport 1 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 30-68 5-11 15-36 20 16 74
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.441, FT-.455. 3-Point Goals:
9-23, .391 (Jefferies 0-3, Walker 1-3, Reid 4-6,
Bradley 3-8, Dean 0-1, Cleveland 1-2). Team
rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3 (Jefferies 2,
Hood). Turnovers: 12 (Gipson 3, Cleveland 2, Hood
2, Walker 2, Bradley, Jefferies, Jennings).
Steals: 11 (Cleveland 3, Gipson 2, Hood 2, Reid
2, Bradley, Jefferies).
__________________________________
Kentucky 35 35 - 70
Arkansas 38 36 - 74
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 20,198. Officials:
Duane Smith, Ted Hillary, Orlandis Poole.
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