Arkansas Does It Again, Finding Way To Win In Ot

Midwest Regional

The Arkansas Razorbacks overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to force overtime Friday night, then pulled away in the extra period to beat Memphis 96-91 and advance to the final of the Midwest Regional.

Arkansas was good - Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman and Corey Beck excelled when it counted - but also was lucky. Memphis coach Larry Finch would say too lucky.

Finch was irate about a hand-checking foul called against his player, Chris Garner, with 11.5 seconds left in regulation and Memphis holding an 83-82 lead. Beck made 1 of 2 free throws, and when Memphis missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the game went into overtime.

“It makes me mad,” Finch said. “There’s 4 seconds left on the doggone (shot) clock and you call a doggone touch foul after we’ve been mugged all night. That’s ridiculous.”

Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson saw it differently. “When they make the call they have made on us so often, I don’t think there’s anything else you can say except hand check,” Richardson said.

Memphis had an open 3-point try by Justin Wimmer at the end of regulation, but the shot came up short. Arkansas’ Dwight Stewart tipped the ball as it neared the rim, but goaltending wasn’t called because the ball was below the rim.

In OT, Williamson and Thurman broke the game open. Williamson scored the first basket of OT. After David Vaughn’s dunk tied it, Thurman made a 3 to give the Razorbacks the lead for good.

Arkansas 96, Memphis 91 (OT)

MEMPHIS (24-10)

M.Wilson 5-7 1-1 11, Henderson 5-17 2-2 14, Wright 6-11 0-1 12, Garner 2-4 0-1 5, Johnson 10-18 7-10 32, Vaughn 2-7 3-5 7, Wimmer 3-7 0-0 7, Newsom 0-3 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 34-75 13-20 91.

ARKANSAS (30-6)

Thurman 5-12 3-4 17, Williamson 10-16 7-9 27, Martin 1-2 0-0 2, McDaniel 2-6 2-4 7, Beck 2-5 2-4 8, Dillard 6-12 3-4 19, Stewart 2-6 2-4 6, Rimac 1-3 0-0 3, L.Wilson 2-5 3-6 7, Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Garrett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 22-35 96.

Halftime-Ark. 43, Memphis 34. End of Regulation-Memphis 83, Ark. 83. 3-Point goals-Memphis 10-23 (Johnson 5-9, Henderson 2-6, Garner 1-1, Nolan 1-1, Wimmer 1-5, Newsom 0-1), Ark. 12-27 (Thurman 4-5, Dillard 4-8, Beck 2-2, Rimac 1-3, McDaniel 1-5, Martin 0-1, Stewart 0-3). Fouled out-Garner. Rebounds-Memphis 48 (Wright 14), Ark. 44 (Williamson 13). Assists-Memphis 19 (Garner 8), Ark. 19 (Thurman, Beck 4). Total fouls-Memphis 24, Ark. 20. Technicals-Johnson, Beck. A-NA.

Virginia 67, Kansas 58

Junior Burrough, giving up a half-foot to Kansas center Greg Ostertag, scored 18 hard-won points as the Cavaliers ousted the top-seeded Jayhawks.

Kansas made only 2 of 21 3-pointers.

The Jayhawks shot their worst percentage of the year (34), hit just 13 of 25 free throws and were outrebounded 49-44.

VIRGINIA (25-8)

Williford 1-4 0-2 2, Burrough 7-21 4-7 18, Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Staples 6-14 3-4 18, Deane 7-15 6-7 22, Barnes 1-2 3-4 5, Robinson 1-6 0-0 2, Nolan 0-0 0-0 0, Ellsworth 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 16-24 67 KANSAS (25-6)

LaFrentz 4-9 2-6 10, Pearson 0-4 0-2 0, Ostertag 4-8 0-2 8, Vaughn 6-11 0-1 13, Haase 1-6 2-2 5, Pollard 3-8 3-7 9, Williams 2-4 0-0 4, Thomas 1-8 5-5 7, Gurley 0-3 2-2 2, McGrath 0-1 0-0 0, Whatley 0-0 0-0 0, Branstrom 0-0 0-0 0, Novosell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 14-27 58.

Halftime-Va. 31, Kansas 28. 3-Point goals-Va. 5-18 (Staples 3-9, Deane 2-6, Williford 0-1, Burrough 0-1, Robinson 0-1), Kansas 2-21 (Vaughn 1-2, Haase 1-5, Gurley 0-3, Pearson 0-4, Thomas 0-7). Fouled out-Williams. Rebounds-Va. 49 (Burrough 12), Kansas 44 (Pollard 10). Assists-Va. 5 (Deane 2), Kansas 11 (Vaughn 7). Total fouls-Va. 21, Kansas 21. A-16,153.