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Vols' second-half rhythm too much for UA Thursday, Feb 14, 2008 By Harry King KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Charles Thomas' double-jump protest of a foul and the follow-up technical on coach John Pelphrey epitomized their frustration. Those who endured the stop-start first half that lasted a full 60 minutes were equally frustrated, but with whistle-blowing interruptions to the flow. Maybe it was that refreshing halftime break, but it seemed like the second 20 minutes began with a nice rhythm, all in the direction of the Tennessee Orange, but a rhythm nonetheless. By the time Tyler Smith shot his third free throw of the half, Tennessee was up 15 and the half was 150 seconds old. More than a dozen times in the first half, the break between free throws lasted less than 90 seconds. The foul on Thomas was the 40th of the game and occurred with 12:13 to play. Ever since that mid-December loss at Oklahoma, I've been anxious to see Arkansas in a true road game, complete with quality opponent and lots of enthusiastic people. No. 4 Tennessee was over the top on both counts. The Vols, 93-71 winners, were the Razorbacks' fourth Southeastern Conference opponent on the road and there are four more to go. Auburn and LSU were so-so teams and the atmosphere was blah at both places. I didn't make the trip to Georgia, but the Razorbacks did so little at Athens that Pelphrey threw a little 1:30 a.m. welcome home for his players. In the 11-point loss at Oklahoma, the Razorbacks and the Sooners were tied at 60 with eight minutes to play and once the Razorbacks persevered through a series of first-half turnovers on Wednesday night, I settled in for that make-or-break final few minutes. The Razorbacks were long-gone before then. In fact, it was 79-57 with 7:10 to play when the P.A. man took delight in teasing the crowd with Florida 71, LSU 85. That outcome leaves the 9-1 Vols in a very comfortable spot in the Eastern Division, since Kentucky is second at 6-3. Despite missing 9-of-20 free throws in the first half, Arkansas only trailed 43-38 and the second half began with Wayne Chism yielding to temptation and throwing up a shot from way outside. At the other end, Michael Washington had the ball down low and it was easy pickings for Chism. JaJuan Smith made a 3 and Tyler Smith, with his eyes on Gary Ervin and his back to the baseline, knocked away Washington's inbounds pass with his left hand. Smith pounced on the ball and finished a three-point play. Patrick Beverley missed and the Razorbacks were fortunate that Tyler Smith couldn't handle a lob for a dunk that would have upped the lead to 13 smack in front of the Tennessee students. JaJuan Smith made another 3 for 52-39 and the Razorbacks kept it interesting for a few more minutes. Chris Lofton, a 48 percent shooter from 3-point range and the SEC leader in long ones, was 0-of-3 against Arkansas and managed only six points. But, it was his floating flip over Steven Hill that made it 66-52 at the 11:22 mark. Beverley, who made only 1-of-3 shots, picked up his first foul with 47 seconds gone in the game and sat down. He returned, picked up another foul, and totaled only 23 minutes, only four in the first half. In eight previous SEC games, he averaged a team-high 36 minutes per outing. Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl went out of his way to point out that Lofton had six defensive rebounds and that Beverley did not have an offensive board. Lofton, he said, "may not have six defensive rebounds all year long, but he did it against the best rebounding guard ..." Beverley had been a double-digit rebounder in six of the seven previous games. The critical point of the first half occurred with Tennessee in front 28-22. Sonny Weems' shot trickled across the rim and Thomas took steps when he tried to drive. Weems did the same throwing an inbounds pass and Steven Hill picked up a foul that prompted a question from Pelphrey. The official's explanation elicited a "What's that mean?" from the coach. Arkansas did not have another turnover the rest of the half. Pelphrey looked like a genius when he called time to get Vincent Hunter into the game and Hunter threw in a 3. Weems followed with a 3 and the game was on until another tweet. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
