Arkansas, Virginia Have Holes In Their Buckets

It seemed for a while as though the first team to double digits might win Sunday’s Midwest Regional final in Kansas City, Mo., between Arkansas and Virginia.

Virginia scored on its first possession, a short jumper inside by Junior Burrough. Then the Cavaliers missed 10 shots before Burrough scored again from in close.

Virginia’s next bucket came 40 seconds later, at the 12:02 mark of the first half. That made the score 6-4.

Arkansas scored its third and fourth points on a Scotty Thurman layup with 14:12 to go. Nearly four minutes later, the Razorbacks scored again. In between, they missed six shots and committed two turnovers.

“When you’re not scoring, you still have to get back and play defense,” said Arkansas forward Corliss Williamson. “When you stop scoring and you stop them from scoring, the game’s going to stay the same.”

By the way, the first team to double figures was Virginia. But the Cavaliers lost the game, 68-61.

How sweet it is

Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson loved every bit of his team’s run to the national championship last year. But he said getting back to the Final Four this year is even sweeter.

“I was happy last year and I knew there was a lot of work to be done to get where we needed to go this year, because of the expectations,” he said.

“The kids expected so much of themselves, everybody else expected a lot, and that’s good. I had the task with my coaching staff to get us there.

“Had I not been able to get there, I would have been very disappointed in myself. It’s the greatest reward when you’re on the top, then you get knocked off but you still get back up and make it.”

Prediction

Virginia coach Jeff Jones said he thinks officiating will be the factor that determines whether Arkansas beats North Carolina on Saturday.

If the officials allow the game to be played physically, Jones said, that would benefit Arkansas. If not, give the edge to Carolina.

The officials let Arkansas and Virginia bang away during the Midwest Regional championship game Sunday. Did Jones think that hurt his team?

“The way we shot free throws, I’m not sure it would have helped us to go to the line more,” he said. The Cavaliers missed 11 of their 28 free throws. Meanwhile, Arkansas was 17-of-21.

Tough in tourney

After limiting opponents to 64.3 points per game on 39.4 percent shooting during the regular season, the Cowboys have gotten even tougher in the tournament, limiting their four opponents to a combined shooting percentage of 32 percent and an average of 55.3 points per game.

Sutton’s success

Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton has a 27-17 record in NCAA Tournament play at three different schools. Sutton, who previously coached at Arkansas and Kentucky before returning to his alma mater in 1991, is ninth on the all-time list of NCAA wins and sixth on the list of active coaches.