Arkansas pressure tames UM Bears score only 47 in ‘learning experience’

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FAYETTESVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas has built a national reputation – and won the 1994 NCAA men’s basketball title – thanks in large part to a swarming, wall-to-wall defensive style that coach Nolan Richardson calls “40 Minutes of Hell.”

On Monday night, the Razorbacks started slowly against the University of Maine in an opening-round game of the Preseason NIT.

As it turns out, 30 minutes of intense heat was plenty: The Razorbacks surged to a 64-47 win over the Black Bears in a mutual opener at Bud Walton Arena.

The 47-point output was the lowest for a UMaine team in coach John Giannini’s six years at UMaine, and its lowest since a 47-point outing against Brown University on Dec. 30, 1995.

Giannini didn’t expect his team to struggle as much as it did.

“Frankly, I was a little bit disappointed in the way we played,” Giannini said in a radio interview after the game. “I thought we were capable of playing better.”The Razorbacks earned a second-round date with Wake Forest, which edged North Carolina-Wilmington in another Monday night Preseason NIT contest.

Teddy Gipson led the Razorbacks with 15 points while Jannero Pargo and J.J. Sullinger added 10 points apiece.

Giannini said the game was a learning experience for the Bears.

“I don’t think we’ll see better pressure than this,” Giannini said.

Errick Greene had 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Clayton Brown scored 13 to go with seven boards for UMaine. Seven-footer Justin Rowe added six points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots in his UMaine debut.The Black Bears hung with the Razorbacks in the early-going despite spotting Arkansas a 7-0 lead. UMaine rebounded with a 7-0 run of its own.

The Bears were deadlocked at 13-13 with the Hogs after 11 minutes of action, and the slow Arkansas start had served to subdue the crowd in 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena.

The silence didn’t last.

T.J. Cleveland snapped the tie when he stole the ball and scored on a breakaway layup with 9:00 to play, and the Razorbacks didn’t let up after that, scoring 39 of their first 58 points off 29 Maine turnovers.Arkansas reeled off a 23-5 run over the next 10 minutes en route to a 36-21 halftime lead.

The win was something Razorbacks fans have become accustomed to: Arkansas is now 114-17 since Bud Walton Arena was opened in 1993.

The Razorbacks were selected to finish second in the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division, behind Alabama. Their preseason rankings varied according to several publications. Lindy’s Basketball ranked Arkansas 39th, while Basketball News rated the Hogs 48th and The Sporting News had them 55th.

America East coaches voted the Bears second in their preseason poll.

During the Razorbacks’ key run, they held UMaine without a field goal for an 11:05 span. Adding to UMaine’s woes: During that span, they made only five of nine free throw attempts.

Arkansas shot just 28 percent from the floor over the first 10 minutes but ended up the half strong. The Hogs headed to the locker room shooting 45.2 percent (14-for-31).

The Black Bears, on the other hand, shot just 30.4 percent from the floor in the half (7-for-23), didn’t connect on a 3-point attempt (0-for-5) and turned the ball over 15 times in the face of Arkansas’ scrambling defense. Ten of those turnovers came on Razorback steals.

Arkansas turned the ball over only eight times in the half.

Razorbacks 64, Black Bears 47

Maine (0-1) Arkansas (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Brown 6 8 0 0 13 Gipson 7 10 15

White 1 4 1 3 3 Lane 1 3 2

Rowe 2 7 2 8 6 Gomez 3 7 0 6

Greene 5 15 6 11 16 Pargo 4 12 10

Jackson 1 6 2 2 4 Dean 2 7 5

Tibbetts 0 3 0 0 0 Satchell 1 2

Petkus 2 5 0 0 5 Cleveland 1 4

Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 Tatum 1 7 3

Sullinger 4 9 10

Baker 0 4 0 0

Eddins 1 2 0 3

Jordan 0 2 0 0

Jones 2 5 0 4

Totals 17 48 11 24 47 Totals 27 74 11 64

Maine 21 47

Arkansas 36 64

3-pt. goals: Maine (2-11): Brown 1-2, Greene 0-2, Jackson 0-2, Tibbettts 0-1, Petkus 1-4; Arkansas (5-18): Gipson 0-1, Pargo 2-6, Dean 0-4, Cleveland 0-1, Tatum 1-3, Sullinger 1-2, Eddins 1

Michigan State 80, Detroit 70

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Aloysius Anagonye, Marcus Taylor and Adam Wolfe scored 14 points each and No. 15 Michigan State beat Detroit 80-70 in the Preseason NIT on Monday night to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 45 games.