Hogs Take Seat In Title Game Arkansas Pulls Away From Carolina, 75-68

Arkansas almost lost. Again.

Getting tired of hearing that? Tough.

The Razorbacks’ perilous journey through the NCAA basketball tournament continued on Saturday as the defending champions sidestepped North Carolina 75-68 in the semifinals at the Kingdome.

“In order to win championships, you have to have luck. And I just hope we have one more day of luck,” said Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, whose club won three spine-tinglers earlier in the tourney. “You (reporters) can write your stories, ‘They lucked out again.’ I like that. Or, ‘They almost lost.’ I like that.”

Or maybe the theme will be, ‘Winner and still champion … Arkansas. So far.’

The Razorbacks (32-6) will meet UCLA, a 74-61 victor over Oklahoma State, for the championship at 5:40 p.m. on Monday.

Arkansas allowed more drama to seep into the final minutes than this one deserved.

North Carolina, which finished 28-6, trailed 69-58 with 3:25 remaining after nemesis Dwight Stewart’s 3-pointer.

But the Tar Heels scurried back, using Donald Williams’ trey - the team’s first field goal in nearly 13 minutes - to start a 10-0 run that ended when Jerry Stackhouse hit a free throw to make it 69-68 with 47 seconds left.

Arkansas milked the clock before UNC’s Dante Calabria inexplicably fouled Clint McDaniel with 27 ticks to go - and about 14 left on the shot clock.

“That’s my fault,” Tar Heels coach Dean Smith said. “I think Dante misunderstood or something.”

McDaniel canned both shots for a 71-68 cushion, then snagged the rebound of Williams’ errant 3-pointer with 7 seconds to play.

McDaniel was fouled and hit a pair. Corliss Williamson’s tipin after a Tar Heels turnover sealed it.

Williamson, a non-factor in the first half with two points, ran off 19 in the final 20 minutes.

Williamson said he didn’t take good shots in the first half. Richardson said Williamson didn’t get the ball enough.

Either way, Williamson dominated the second half. He took the ball at or around UNC’s Rasheed Wallace, who at 6-foot-10 is 3 inches taller than Williamson.

“We made some adjustments,” Richardson said. “Either you (his players) get the ball to him from time to time or come sit and visit with me (on the bench) from time to time.”

A critical momentum swing took place just before Richardson’s halftime instructions. Ahead 38-31 in the closing seconds, North Carolina tried a full-court pass that caromed off the backboard to the Razorbacks. Stewart made the turnover costly by drilling a 50-footer at the buzzer.

“It was a very big lift,” Williamson said of trailing by four instead of seven.

“He’ll make one out of 500 of those,” Smith said. “But we do attack. We gamble.”

UNC didn’t substitute much, however, particularly in the second half. Arkansas used reserves in waves and turned a 46-39 deficit into a 56-51 lead when Williamson wheeled around Wallace, who was dragging.

“We felt if we could continue to press and jump in and out of that, eventually the wear and tear would take over,” Richardson said.

Smith denied that his club wore down. To be fair, Stackhouse reaggravated his bruised back early and said, “I couldn’t explode offensively.” And Wallace, who came into the tourney limping on a gimpy ankle, seemed hobbled at times.

“Certainly our kids are in shape,” Smith said. “Plus, there are the long television timeouts.”

Smith pinned UNC’s demise on not taking advantage of Arkansas’ helter- skelter pressure.

“They’re a very good defensive team, but they give you open shots and you have to make them,” Smith said.

Calabria, a 52 percent 3-point shooter, was 0 of 7 behind the arc Saturday. He finished with two points, but had nine assists. Williams scored 19 and Stackhouse added 18. Wallace had 10 points and 10 rebounds, but attempted only one shot and grabbed just three rebounds in the second half.

Coulda, woulda - didn’t

Despite trailing by 11 points with 3 1/2 minutes left, North Carolina thought it was going to catch Arkansas. And the Tar Heels did get within one with 47.7 seconds to go.

“We were just a little unlucky in the end,” a dejected Stackhouse said.

In the final 10 seconds, Williams missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the score at 71-71.

“Jerry had a good screen for me and that was one of my best spots on the court,” Williams said. “I thought it was good, but it didn’t go in.”

Arkansas 75, North Carolina 68

NORTH CAROLINA (28-6)

Stackhouse 4-7 7-10 18, Calabria 1-10 0-0 2, Wallace 4-6 2-4 10, D.Williams 7-19 0-0 19, McInnis 3-9 5-6 13, Sullivan 1-2 2-4 4, Zwikker 0-1 0-0 0, Landry 1-2 0-0 2, S.Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 16-24 68.

ARKANSAS (32-6)

Thurman 2-10 0-0 6, Williamson 10-17 1-1 21, Martin 1-1 0-0 3, McDaniel 3-7 4-4 13, Beck 2-9 0-0 5, Dillard 0-5 0-0 0, Rimac 2-8 0-0 6, Stewart 6-10 0-2 15, Wilson 1-3 2-2 4, Robinson 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 28-74 7-9 75.

Halftime-North Carolina 38, Arkansas 34. 3-Point goals-N. Carolina 10-28 (D.Williams 5-12, Stackhouse 3-3, McInnis 2-5, Landry 0-1, Calabria 0-7), Arkansas 12-34 (McDaniel 3-5, Stewart 3-7, Rimac 2-6, Thurman 2-9, Martin 1-1, Beck 1-1, Robinson 0-1, Dillard 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-N. Carolina 48 (Wallace 10), Arkansas 42 (Williamson 10). Assists-N. Carolina 15 (Calabria 9), Arkansas 22 (Beck 10). Total fouls- N. Carolina 13, Arkansas 17. A-38,540.