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SEC MEN : Arkansas offense lurches, sputters Published: Sunday, January 20, 2008 PRINT E-MAIL ATHENS, Ga. — It wasn’t all bad for Arkansas on Saturday night. Senior forward Sonny Weems made sure the Razorbacks’ streak of games with a three-point basket reached 629. But by the time Weems hit a couple of three-pointers in the final 3: 10, it was way too little and way too late to save Arkansas against Georgia. The Bulldogs stayed in control throughout the second half and beat the Razorbacks 82-69 before an announced crowd of 8, 322 in Stegeman Coliseum.
“I was kind of shocked we beat them like that to tell you the truth,” Georgia senior point guard Sundiata Gaines said. “But our defense at home is great.” The crowd looked a lot smaller than the 8, 000-plus on the box score, but the Bulldogs (11-5, 2-1 SEC ) made sure the home fans had plenty to cheer about, especially junior guard Billy Humphrey, who led Georgia with 24 points. He hit 6 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 6 three pointers, and was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Humphrey finished with twice as many three-point baskets as the Razorbacks (13-5, 2-2 ), who hit 2 of 11 three-pointers. Charles Thomas led Arkansas with 13 points and Weems added 12, but both also had 4 turnovers each as the Razorbacks finished with 17 compared to 11 assists. Arkansas also struggled on free throws, hitting 13 of 20. “Not very good tonight,” Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey said, assessing his team’s overall performance. “Not good enough to win on the road. Not good enough to win at home.” Georgia improved to 10-0 at home while the Razorbacks dropped their second consecutive conference game after losing to South Carolina 70-66 at Walton Arena on Wednesday night. Arkansas now has a week between games before playing at LSU next Saturday night. “We’ve got some time to sort of regroup, and I think it’s much needed,” Pelphrey said. “We’ve had four games in 10 days, and we certainly need more practice time.” Gaines added 14 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for Georgia and 6-8 freshman forward Jeremy Price was strong inside with 14 points. “We really had a very difficult time guarding them,” Pelphrey said. “Our guards got exposed,” Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley again was limited offensively, scoring nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and of 4 free throws. Beverley, the SEC Freshman of the Year last season, has just 29 field-goal attempts in four conference games. The Razorbacks outscored the Bulldogs 38-32 in the paint, but Georgia kept it from being worse by blocking nine shots and knocking the ball away several other times. “We struggled at times scoring around the basket,” Pelphrey said. “We must have had the ball knocked out of our hands seven or eight times.” Georgia, which shot 50. 9 percent from the field and hit 20 of 28 free throws, led the game’s final 25 minutes after there had been six lead changes and five ties in the first 15 minutes. “Our offense was really clicking tonight,” Bulldogs Coach Dennis Felton said. “And we played unbelievable defense again.” Price scored on a layup to give the Bulldogs a 43-33 lead with 17: 20 left. Arkansas didn’t pull closer than six points the rest of the game. The Bulldogs stretched their lead 65-49 on a dunk and free throw by the 6-8 Price with 8: 16 left and led by as many as 19 points, 74-55. Arkansas’ final lead was at 22-21 on a dunk by senior forward Darian Townes with 6: 10 left in the first half. Humphrey hit a 15-foot jumper with 36 seconds left in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 34-27 halftime lead. A driving basket by sophomore guard Stefan Welsh put Arkansas ahead 8-6 five minutes into the game. Georgia then moved ahead 11-8 as Humphrey hit a three-point basket and Price scored on a rebound. Arkansas senior guard Gary Ervin scored six consecutive points for an 18-16 Razorbacks lead at the 8: 29 mark. Georgia went ahead 26-22 as Humphrey another three-pointer. Thomas made it 26-24 with an inside basket. The Bulldogs then outscored the Razorbacks 8-3 the final 3: 24 of the half to build a seven-point lead. More Stories From: BOB HOLT · SEC gets stars back from draft · Hogs' Balumbu falls short in final · NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : All-American hog call · NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Hogs' title hopes take hit on Day 2 · NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Qualifying fervor Yesterday's Most Popular 1. HOG FUTURES JERRY MITCHELL : Hurricane brings Mitchell to Hogs 2. THE RECRUITING GUY : Purifoy's size fits into UA's plans 3. Iowa prep standout Kelly joins UA track 4. Former Diamond Hog Richards inks contract with Marlins Today's Most E-mailed |
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