Appalachian State got another memorable upset victory Saturday, but this time it came on the basketball court and Arkansas was the victim.

The Mountaineers shocked the Razorbacks and a raucous Alltel Arena crowd of 10, 835 by beating Arkansas 74-67.

Sports fans around the country no doubt will be reminded of the Appalachian State football team’s 34-32 victory over Michigan at the Big House on Sept. 1.

“This is going to be the biggest win in the nation today,” Appalachian State Coach Houston Francher said. “It’s a major win for us, no question about it.

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“ This wasn’t given to us. We came in and earned it in what’s certainly going to be the most hostile environment we’ll play in all year long.”

Razorbacks senior forward Sonny Weems didn’t appreciate the Arkansas-Michigan comparison.

“We’re not Michigan, we’re Arkansas,” Weems said. “No way in hell we should lose to Appalachian State. No way.”

The Mountaineers (5-5 ) won by shooting 66. 7 percent from the field, including 78. 6 percent in the second half (11 of 14 ), with a deliberate approach on which they continually converted baskets with five seconds or less left on the 35-second shot clock.

“It was about being patient,” said 6-8 senior forward Donte Minter, who had 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 9 rebounds for Appalachian State. “They’re a great team, they’re athletic, but we wanted to wear them down after 25 or 30 seconds of running our offense.”

The Mountaineers were 12 of 12 on free throws, making them a combined 40 of 54 from the field and free-throw line.

“Appalachian State deserves all the credit,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “They were terrific.

“ We were able to turn them over 23 times, but when they didn’t do that, they really executed at a high level.

“ They very much dictated what was going on through their offense, being able to hold the basketball and score late in the clock.”

While Minter and 6-10 freshman center Isaac Butts, who had eight points and six rebounds, combined to go 13 of 16 from the field, Mountaineers freshman guard Donald Sims scorched Arkansas from the perimeter, hitting 4 of 5 three-pointers and scoring a game-high 24 points. He finished 7 of 9 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.

“If he makes his first shot, you’d better hide the women and children, because he’s going to go to work,” Francher said. “For a freshman to come into this environment and perform like that I thought was masterful.”

Arkansas (9-3 ) jumped ahead 15-7 the first six minutes, but Appalachian State began chipping into the lead by going inside to Minter and Butts and slowed down the Razorbacks’ offense by going to a zone defense.

“We had a shot to put them away early and didn’t do it,” Weems said.

Francher said he told his players throughout the game not to look at the scoreboard, but to focus on each possession.

“We tried to break it down into little segments and didn’t look at the big picture,” Francher said. “Because if we’d done that, we’d have gotten run over.”

Senior forward Charles Thomas led Arkansas with 15 points and 6 rebounds, but was 3 of 9 on free throws. Darian Townes added 14 points for the Razorbacks, and Gary Ervin and Weems had 11 points each.

Patrick Beverley, a sophomore guard who came into the game averaging a team-high 12. 6 points for Arkansas, was held to a season-low five points in 24 minutes. He didn’t play the final 16: 29 of the first half after drawing his second foul.

The Razorbacks finished 25 of 60 from the field (41. 7 percent ) and hit 14 of 25 free throws.

“We just really struggled getting the ball in the hole,” Pelphrey said.

Appalachian State took its biggest lead of the game, 47-33, on Minter’s layup with 16: 46 left.

The Razorbacks turned the heat up defensively, forcing 13 turnovers the rest of the game, and twice pulled within two points, at 63-61 on Weems’ dunk with 3: 59 left and two free throws by Townes with 1: 44 left.

But Appalachian State maintained the lead with Sims scoring seven points in the final 3: 31, including a three-point basket to make it 70-65 with 1: 16 left as he fell back and hit the floor.

“We talked all week in practice about trying to establish our identity,” Sims said. “Then we came out today and got a big win.”

Pelphrey has been talking for a few weeks about how the Razorbacks haven’t been making enough progress.

“It’s evident we still need to improve,” Pelphrey said. “We’re not there.”

Francher noted that in losses earlier this season, the Mountaineers couldn’t hold 11-point leads against Wichita State and San Jose State or a six-point lead against Charlotte.

“In all those games, we folded down the stretch,” Francher said. “Arkansas gave us every reason to fold down the stretch again, but fortunately, we didn’t.

“ We played with a lot of poise and toughness.”