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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ATLANTA (AP) -- Arkansas didn't want to remembered for a mediocre
regular season. Not to worry.
Playing their fourth game in four days, the Razorbacks earned an
improbable trip to the NCAA Tournament by beating No. 23 Auburn 75-67
Sunday, winning the Southeastern Conference tournament and the
league's automatic bid.
|  | | Arkansas' Brandon Dean couldn't be happier with the net result. |
Brandon Dean scored 22 points and Arkansas closed the game with
a 14-5 spurt, making the Tigers seem to be the tired team when it
should have been the other way around.
"We didn't want to go down as one of the worst teams to come
through Arkansas," said Dean, referring to a 15-14 record in the
regular season. "We wanted to do something special."
This was special. Only one team, Auburn in 1985, had managed to
win the SEC tournament with four wins in four days. Six other teams
won their first three games but wilted in the finals.
Arkansas (19-14), knowing a loss would mean a trip to the NIT,
seemed to conserve its energy in the first half against the Tigers,
who led 32-27 at halftime. But the Razorbacks turned up the heat in
the second half, turning the game into "20 minutes of hell" for
Auburn.
"A couple of players had tired legs, including myself," said
freshman Joe Johnson, who put the Razorbacks ahead to stay on a
basket with 3:53 remaining. "But that's part of the game. You have
to suck it up and go for it."
Arkansas became only the sixth NCAA team to win four tournament
games in four days -- and the second of the weekend. Saint Louis won
the Conference USA title Saturday by completing a similar sweep.
"I think we opened a lot of people's eyes," Johnson said.
"We're not pushovers. They've got to take us serious."
Ditto for Auburn (23-9), which proved it could win without star
Chris Porter. After the senior forward lost his final appeal to the
NCAA for taking $2,500 from an agent's middleman, the Tigers upset
No. 11 Florida in the quarterfinals and knocked off South Carolina
in the semifinals.
"Confidence is the main thing," Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said.
"Our team knew that we needed to change our chemistry coming into
this tournament. I was proud of our team every time we played. This
weekend was a great experience."
After the payment to Porter was discovered, Auburn lost three
straight regular-season games and entered the tournament with a
four-game losing streak overall. While assured of an NCAA bid all
along, the Tigers undoubtedly helped their seeding with the
performance in Atlanta.
"It gives us motivation going into the NCAA Tournament," said
Doc Robinson, one of three players who led Auburn with 15 points.
Arkansas, with a lineup featuring three freshmen and a
sophomore, upset Kentucky in the quarterfinals, eliminating
the team that had won the tournament seven of the last eight years.
In the semifinals, the Razorbacks defeated LSU, another of
the four teams that shared the regular-season title.
"I don't think I've ever been as happy on the inside for a
group of guys who are so young and have been through the trials and
talk these guys have," said coach Nolan Richardson, whose school
won its first SEC tournament since joining the league in 1991-92.
"They put it all behind them."
The teams went back and forth in the second half, with three
ties and nine lead changes before Arkansas went ahead for good,
63-62, when Johnson banked in a shot in the lane.
Dean, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, was named the tournament's MVP after
going nine of 13 from the field in the title game, including two of
3-pointers. Teddy Gipson added 14 points, including two key baskets
down the stretch as the Razorbacks pulled away.
First, Gipson came up with a steal and layup to give Arkansas a
65-62 lead with 3:29 remaining. Then, when T.J. Cleveland missed
badly on a 3-pointer, the 6-4 Gipson slipped inside for one of only
three offensive rebounds by the Razorbacks, his putback making it
67-62 with 1:42 left.
Auburn never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
Gipson's hustle epitomized the Razorbacks' relentless style of
play, rekindling memories of the "40 minutes of hell" from their
glory days. They forced 93 turnovers in the four games, including
17 on Sunday to set up 26 points.
Mack McGadney had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Auburn, which
held an overwhelming 41-20 edge on the boards. Jay Heard also had
15 points, all but three on 3-pointers.
But this tournament belonged to Arkansas.
"No one expected us to come in and do what we did," said Chris
Walker, the only senior on the team. "Everyone expected us to lose
in the first round. It was sweet to prove everyone wrong."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Arkansas Clubhouse
Auburn Clubhouse
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