Threes won’t fall for Hogs

ATLANTA — Arkansas went a combined 4 of 28 on three-point attempts in two games against Georgia this season.

The Razorbacks hit 2 of 11 three-pointers (18. 2 percent ) in an 82-69 loss at Georgia on Jan. 19. That looked hot compared to their 2 of 17 threepoint shooting (11. 8 percent ) in losing to the Bulldogs 66-57 in Sunday’s SEC Tournament final.

Arkansas missed its first seven three-point attempts Sunday before senior forward Sonny Weems connected with a minute left in the first half to pull the Razorbacks within 36-26. Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said the Razorbacks got some open looks, but also rushed some shots rather than looking to go inside first. “I thought they were early [in the shot clock ],” Pelphrey said. ‘They were bad maybe for not giving themselves a chance to go inside and attack with some of that first. ”

Big Dogs Arkansas outrebounded Vanderbilt and Tennessee a by a combined 79-46 in winning its first two SEC Tournament games, but was outrebounded 40-31 by the Bulldogs Sunday. Georgia 6-10 senior center Dave Bliss had a game-high 11 rebounds and 6-10 sophomore Albert Jackson had eight. Darian Townes, a 6-10 senior, led the Razorbacks with eight rebounds. No other Arkansas player had more than 6-1 Patrick Beverley’s six. “Those guys aren’t going to wow you with their speed or athleticism, but they’re big, strong physical guys,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said of the Bulldogs. “And when a game gets close like it did today, they can get you extra possessions.” The Bulldogs had 13 offensive rebounds, leading to a 9-4 advantage on secondchance points.

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All-Tournament Georgia senior guard Sundiata Gaines was voted SEC Tournament MVP by the media and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Arkansas senior center Darian Townes and senior forward Charles Thomas, Georgia sophomore forward Terrance Woodbury and Alabama forward Mykal Riley, a senior from Pine Bluff.

Weems back After averaging 5. 5 points the previous four games, Arkansas senior forward Sonny Weems bounced back with 17 points against Georgia. He was 8 of 15 from the field, but 1 of 5 on three-pointers. Refund statement The SEC office released a statement Sunday that the conference and its 12 member schools are working on a refund process for the SEC Tournament. Thousands of fans were denied access to the last four games after the tournament had to be moved to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum from the tornadodamaged Georgia Dome. Fans will be informed through www. SECsports. com, the release stated, as well as the official Internet sites of the SEC schools as information becomes available. Fans are advised to keep any unused tickets from the SEC Tournament.

Little extra rest Tipoff time for Sunday’s game was pushed back to 2: 30 p. m. Central from noon so the winner of Saturday night’s late semifinal — Georgia over Mississippi State as it turned out — had a little extra recovery time. Georgia also beat Kentucky Saturday in a game that started at 11 a. m. Central. “I know personally I couldn’t stay awake last night trying to watch tape and get our team ready for Arkansas,” Bulldogs Coach Dennis Felton said. “As hard as I tried, I kept dozing off and dozing off, until finally at 4: 30 [a. m. ] I gave in and went to bed.” Felton said the Bulldogs were “blessed” Sunday’s game

1 started 2 / 2 hours later than originally scheduled. “It’s a huge difference in how early you have to get up in the morning and start your process of getting ready for that tipoff,” Felton said. “So I was very, very thankful.” Gotta believe Georgia’s four victories in four days to take the SEC Tournament title matched its victories in conference play during the regular season, when the Bulldogs were 4-12. The Bulldogs, who lost starters Takias Brown and Mike Mercer to dismissals before the season, were expected to do little if anything in Atlanta. “It definitely was a tough year because we had to fight through a lot of adversity,” Georgia senior guard Sundiata Gaines said. “But that’s what makes winning this SEC championship so special, just the overall team effort and the chemistry we built. “ If we didn’t believe in ourselves, we never would have had a chance.”

Top five Arkansas’ 92-91 victory over No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday night marked the first time the Razorbacks had beaten a topfive team in six years. They took down a No. 5 team twice in 2002, beating Florida 94-92 in overtime and Alabama 67-59. Both of those games were in Walton Arena. It had been 13 years since Arkansas beat a top-five team away from home — at the 1995 Final Four in Seattle, where the No. 6 Razorbacks beat No. 4 North Carolina 75-68.

This and that Arkansas sophomore guard Stefan Welsh was scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting Sunday after averaging 11. 5 points the first two SEC Tournament games.... Seven of the SEC Tournament’s 11 games were decided by four or fewer points and there were three overtime games. Five games were won or lost on a final shot.... Georgia, the East’s sixth seed, is the lowest-seeded team to win the tournament since the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992. The previous low seed was Arkansas, a West third seed, in 2000.... Arkansas is now 20-16 in SEC Tournament games, including 1-4 in the finals.