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Arkansas fails on road, again Sunday, Feb 24, 2008 By Harry King LEXINGTON, Ky. - At the Arkansas timeout with 3:45 to play, three of us tried to pinpoint the last time the Razorbacks won a close one on the road in front of a large crowd. We hemmed and hawed and crossed off Stan Heath's three years after one of the younger historians reminded that Heath's teams only won seven on the road. This year - John Pelphrey's first - Baylor, Auburn, LSU fail to measure up on a variety of counts. The conversation continued until the Razorbacks returned to the court to try and protect a 53-50 lead. Oh, never mind. There is plenty of time for research. Once Ramel Bradley broke a 55-55 tie with a falling back jumper at 1:17, Arkansas never got even and fell 63-58 on Saturday. When it was Arkansas 33, Kentucky 29 early in the second half, I wondered how long it had been since the almighty Wildcats had missed the NCAA Tournament? The answer is 1990 and it could happen if Kentucky fails to do enough to obliterate those losses to Gardner Webb and San Diego. For Arkansas, the NCAA is also up in the air and a victory over the Wildcats would have stood the Razorbacks in good stead if the selection committee has to pick between two or three league teams. Now 7-5 in the SEC and two games behind Mississippi State, 10-6 is the number Arkansas needs and that's going to mean winning at Alabama or Ole Miss or both. At the airport, TV man Tim Brando was in line trying to wrangle a way to North Carolina for an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Sunday and I baited him with Arkansas' inability to finish. "They just didn't get good shots," he offered. The first half reinforced the argument that the Southeastern Conference is down. Remember, both teams were in second place in their divisions when the game began. During an uninspiring 20 minutes, the Razorbacks and the Wildcats combined to make 16-of-55 from the field. It was so bad that Arkansas went more than eight minutes without a field goal and still only trailed 27-22 at the half. During the first half, the Wildcats' offense was mostly Bradley dribbling 20-25 feet from the basket. It was so bad that I almost wish the woman behind the counter at the Little Rock airport had not been so helpful. At 3:45 a.m., a recorded voice informed that the flight from Atlanta to Lexington had been pushed back, to the wrong side of the tip-off. The monotone ignored pleas regarding job-related obligations. The live worker with the same airline was more sympathetic and moved the ticket to a competitor which routed from Little Rock to DFW to Lexington in time to witness the pregame make-nice. Pelphrey entered the court a few minutes after his team and the standing ovation lasted several seconds. The Razorbacks received the obligatory boos during the introductions, but Pelphrey received another ovation, even louder than the one for home team coach Billy Gillispie. Of course, the Razorbacks have not lost to the aforementioned basketball pip-squeaks. Pelphrey's No. 34 jersey is up high between those of former Kentucky teammates Deron Feldhaus and Richie Farmer, but the traitor would have had to turn his back to the court to see it. Sonny Weems, who made 1-of-7 in the first half, finished with 10-of-20 and his shooting played a large role in Arkansas' 39-32 lead. He opened the half with a couple of 3s and a dunk. After Joe Crawford recorded the Wildcats' fifth turnover of the half, Weems got loose for another 3 and the seven-point lead. Arkansas stayed in front until Crawford attacked Steven Hill and was strong enough to finish. He completed the three-point play for 42-42 and the crowd got off its hands. With one second on the shot clock, the Wildcats used a bounce pass on the inbounds to get a shot and Patrick Patterson managed to get some rim. Eventually, Crawford salvaged the possession with another soft shot over Hill for a 47-46 lead. After Bradley's tiebreaker, Weems dribbled from the left side to the right, but his jumper was short and the Razorbacks stopped to confer with Pelphrey on their way to watch Patterson make two free throws. Mostly, Pelphrey talked to Weems. Both Bradley and Crawford scored in double figures in the second half and each finished with 18. "I think we just let their main two players take over at the end," Weems said. Time is growing short for some Razorbacks to do the same. ---- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
