PG Ervin responds off bench

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey wasn’t singling out senior point guard Gary Ervin for blame when he took him out of the starting lineup for Sunday night’s game against Virginia Commonwealth.

It didn’t help Ervin that he had six of the Razorbacks’ school record-tying 32 turnovers in a 67-51 loss to Providence, but eight players had at least two turnovers.

“Not that any one person was involved with what happened against Providence, but you’ve got to do something,” Pelphrey said of starting sophomore Stefan Welsh in Ervin’s place. “To be honest with you, it was hard to find five without sin.”

Ervin responded well to playing off the bench and had 12 points, 1 assist and — most importantly — just 1 turnover in 27 minutes in the Razorbacks’ 70-60 victory over VCU.

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Pelphrey praised Ervin’s play and said he also was pleased by Welsh, who had 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 points in 21 minutes. Beverley awarded

Arkansas sophomore guard was voted by the media to the Puerto Rico Tipoff alltournament team, along with Miami’s Jack McClinton, Providence’s Geoff McDermott, Houston’s Robert McKiver and Temple’s Dionte Christmas. McDermott was voted MVP, though Miami beat Providence 64-58 in Sunday night’s championship game. Terrific Townes Arkansas senior forward Darian Townes had 10 points against VCU, including consecutive baskets with a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Stefan Welsh and a dunk follow after a Patrick Beverley miss. Townes also had a reverse layup late in the game with an assist from Charles Thomas. “I thought Darian was terrific,” Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey said. “I thought he had more than 10 points. It was just spectacular plays, I guess.”

Tough game Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey and VCU Coach Anthony Grant are close friends after working together as assistants for seven years at Marshall and Florida. “Certainly for me, this is a matchup I did not want,” Pelphrey said after the Razorbacks beat the Rams. “I don’t like these games. “ Obviously, I’m very happy for our basketball team, but by the same token, I know how I’d be feeling right now if I was on the other side of it. It’s a tough situation.”

Flush it Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said after the VCU game the Razorbacks aren’t dwelling on the 16-point loss to Providence. “We put that in the past,” Pelphrey said. “That’s been flushed. We’re going to move on.”