|
|
| |
| Fri, Sep. 5, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Boo birds out for Texas entrance at Alltel Friday, Mar 21, 2008 By Mark Buffalo mbuffalo@cabotstarherald.com NORTH LITTLE ROCK - When the two teams entered the Alltel Arena court for their first round NCAA Tournament game, one would have thought the Texas Longhorns were playing the Arkansas Razorbacks, not the Austin Peay Governors. Boos erupted for the Longhorns and cheers rained over Alltel for the Governors, but it didn't take long for the Longhorns to turn Alltel into Erwin Center North as they jumped out a 9-0 lead on the way to a 74-54 win over the Governors in front of 16,060 fans. It didn't help that Austin Peay missed its first four shots before Texas scored. Texas Coach Rick Barnes had infuriated fans in Arkansas earlier this week when he said that if the fans at Alltel didn't treat them warmly that his school would buy out the contract for the game between the Longhorns and the Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena next season. Later in the week, he reiterated that he was only joking. But when asked about the crowd reception for his team, Barnes said he didn't know what to expect. "I said before that this time of year and you are a higher seeded team that you can expect to know that the house is going to go against you," Barnes said. "I think that this is pretty much history with this tournament. "We talked about that with our team, obviously. In the first round we focused on what we can do and handle the things we can handle." Barnes said his team has played in tough arenas this year. "You would hope that by this time we would be able to handle those types of situations," Barnes added. Austin Peay finally got on the board when Todd Babington hit a three-pointer with 15:23 left in the first half but the Longhorns responded with a 10-0 run to lead 19-3. Texas' lead grew to 20 points at 34-14 following a basket by A.J. Abrams with 2:57 left in the first half. The Governors made a small run and pulled to within 14 at 36-22 with less than two minutes left, but Texas' Dexter Pittman got a steal and was fouled after he hit a basket with 51.6 seconds left to give the Horns a 39-22 lead. Austin Peay's Drake Reed hit two free throws late to set the halftime score of 39-24. Texas' largest lead was 28 points at 70-42 following a basket by Justin Mason with 6:47 left in the game. Abrams led Texas with 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting from the field. Connor Atchley had 12 points and seven rebounds. Dexter Pitman had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes of action. Ernest Field led Austin Peay with 14 points. Babington had 11. ----------- Miami 78, Saint Mary's 64 The Miami Hurricanes rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to beat Mount St. Mary 78-64 in the first round of the NCAA subregional at Alltel Arena In North Little Rock. Saint Mary's led 32-27 at halftime. The Gaels, West Coast Conference champion, went on a 7-0 run to lead 9-2 early in the first half. Miami then went on a 7-0 run of its own to tie it, 9-9. The Gaels trailed 62-49 midway through the second half and cut the deficit to 69-61 late in the game before the Hurricanes pulled away. Patrick Mills led Saint Mary's with 24 points while playing the entire game. Jack McClinton led Miami with 38 points. He hit 12 of 19 from the field while hitting all 11 of his free throws. |
