Weems struggles to score

One of the few negatives to come out of Arkansas’ 81-75 victory against Vanderbilt on Friday was the continuing struggles of leading scorer Sonny Weems.

The first-team All-SEC selection scored a season-lowtying three points on 1-of-9 shooting while the rest of the Razorbacks were picking up the slack.

The poor shooting performance continued a recent trend for Weems, a West Memphis native who has made just 6 of 32 shots in the past three games.

“We got the win, so I’m happy with the win,” Weems said. “The shots will come. The shots will fall sooner or later. As long as we win, I’m all right.”

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Weems averaged 17. 3 points per game in SEC play and scored 10 or more in the first 14 games of conference play. But he has hit a wall in the past two weeks. Weems scored five points in a road loss at Ole Miss, then hit seven in the regular-season finale against Auburn.

“I still have confidence. I still think I can get up there and make these shots,” Weems said.

Weems went 0 of 1 from three-point range, breaking a streak of 19 consecutive games in which he had made at least one three-pointer.

“We can’t go much longer with Sonny and his streak of not reaching double figures,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “We’ve got to get him back, and we will.” Controlling Foster

Arkansas didn’t shut down Shan Foster, but the Razorbacks made sure Vanderbilt’s star didn’t beat them.

Foster, a 6-6 senior and the SEC Player of the Year, scored 14 points against Arkansas on Friday after coming into the game averaging 20. 7.

It matched Foster’s thirdlowest scoring game this season. He scored seven points at Florida, 13 against South Carolina and 14 against Ole Miss and LSU.

“I don’t think we can expect Shan to be Superman every night,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. “He is most nights, but he can’t be Superman every night.”

Arkansas senior forward Sonny Weems, also 6-6, guarded Foster much of the game and got plenty of help from teammates.

The Razorbacks also tried to blanket Foster when they played zone defense.

Foster scored 22 points when Arkansas beat Vanderbilt at Fayetteville 78-73 two weeks ago.

“He just scares you to death,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “We talked about how standing in front of Shan Foster isn’t enough. You’ve got to find a way to make him bounce it.”

Foster was 4 of 10 from the field Friday, including 2 of 7 on three-point attempts.

“We were able to turn him into a driver and a passer,” Pelphrey said. “We wanted somebody else from Vanderbilt to shoot the ball.”

Tough Beverley Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley suffered a dislocated jaw when he was hit in the face by Vanderbilt forward Ross Neltner with 1: 35 to play, but he stayed in the game and hit two free throws to give Arkansas a 69-64 lead. Beverley also suffered a dislocated jaw against Alabama this season, but came out only briefly to have the jaw put back in place. “I’m OK,” Beverley said after Friday’s game. Welsh does well Sophomore Stefan Welsh has had to come off the bench in the past seven games after starting 21 in a row, but he hasn’t let the demotion get him down.

Welsh hit 3 of 4 three-point shots in the first half while the rest of his Arkansas teammates were going 0 for 6 from beyond the arc, and scored all of his 11 points in the half as the Razorbacks opened a 40-36 lead over Vanderbilt.

“I just wanted to come in and provide a spark off the bench,” Welsh said. “We were going back and forth, I got some open looks and fortunately they went down for me today.”

Welsh has made five of his past eight three-pointers, and has hit 12 of his past 26 threepoint shots covering the past seven games.

Dry spell Arkansas was outplaying Vanderbilt inside, but the Commodores made a few three-pointers, took advantage of more frequent trips to the free-throw line and were hanging close through most of the second half. The Razorbacks needed a three-pointer for a spark after going the last 13: 36 of the first half and the first 12-plus minutes of the second half without a three-point basket. Senior Gary Ervin, who had gone four consecutive games without making a three-pointer, answered the bell. Ervin made a three-pointer, which seemed to clank off all parts of the rim before settling in, to give the Hogs a 63-58 lead with 7: 16 left. “Yeah, that was nothing but net, wasn’t it ?” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey deadpanned. “He made a huge shot there”

New baby Damon Jones, Arkansas’ director of basketball operations, was on the bench for Friday’s game after flying back to Fayetteville on Thursday night for the birth of his son, Branson Nathanial Jones. Jones’ wife, Maliaka, gave birth about 8: 20 p. m. Thursday after the couple was told during a recent checkup the baby likely wouldn’t arrive until early April.

“It was a surprise, but everything turned out well,” Jones said. “I back in time [for the delivery ].”

After spending some time with his family, Jones flew to Atlanta on Friday on a school plane along with Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long. Repeat performance

Arkansas led Vanderbilt 40-36 at halftime of their SEC Tournament quarterfinal on Friday.

The halftime score of their game on March 8: Arkansas 40, Vanderbilt 36.