FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas beat Louisiana-Lafayette Friday by closing the final 6 minutes, 9 seconds with a 17-3 run, but that was not the bizarre part of the game's ending.
ULL coach Bob Marlin walked off the floor with 6 seconds remaining after Arkansas forward Alandise Harris, who finished with a team-high 19 points, slammed home a wide-open dunk. Marlin shook Arkansas coach Mike Anderson's hand and then walked off the court, leading to a technical foul that allowed Rashad Madden to put the final point on the scoreboard in his first game back with the Razorbacks.
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Mike Anderson, while serving as an assistant coach in 1990, was present when Arkansas had its head coach leave the floor before the end of regulation as well. Nolan Richardson walked off the court with 14 seconds remaining Feb. 4, 1990, in Austin, Texas, after Lee Mayberry committed an intentional foul that put Texas ahead by three points. Mayberry made up for the mistake with a long, game-tying 3-point basket, sending the game to overtime. Unlike Marlin, Richardson was not charged with a technical foul. Richardson rejoined his team for the extra period and the Razorbacks beat the Longhorns 103-96.
"I went to shake Mike's hands and left the court." Marlin said. "I had seen enough.
"I didn't know why it was a technical. If they said I was out of the box, I thought they were out of the box all game."
Anderson did not blame Marlin, but did admit he thought the antic was strange.
"I actually thought the game was over with," Anderson said. "He said good game, but I guess he just got tired of watching it. It was ... It was kind of weird. But I thought the clock had 0:00 on it, so I didn't know what was going on.
"Sometimes frustration gets the best of you."
Marlin's frustration likely had to do with the Razorbacks forcing the Ragin' Cajuns to turn the ball over eight times in the final six minutes as Arkansas grasped control of the game for the first time. Arkansas and Louisiana-Lafayette exchanged the lead seven times and were tied another eight times before the Razorbacks made the final lead change when Harris hit a jump shot to put Arkansas ahead 62-60 at the 4:06 mark.
"I thought we played well for 35 minutes and a couple things went wrong down the stretch," Marlin said. "We didn't catch many breaks and Arkansas made some plays at the end that made a difference in the game.
"We had five turnovers in the first half and 20 at the end of the game, so all of those charges and tough plays down the stretch hurt us."
In addition to a late defensive adjustment that Anderson said threw the Ragin' Cajuns "off kilter," he agreed with Marlin by saying the three charges the Razorbacks drew in the final 4 minutes, 36 seconds were also key in the 17-3 run that frustrated ULL.
"When (Elfrid) Payton came in there, he was trying to get to the basket, trying to get to the free throw line and I think a few of those (charges) were probably Kikko (Haydar) and Alandise got one," Anderson said. "It gets contagious when you start taking charges. That's the sign of a team that is willing to sacrifice.
"It creates a personal foul, a team foul, you take away an opportunity for them to score and it's a turnover and then we get an opportunity to score on the other end. Those are big plays and if you take three of them in a game, especially in the second half, it can really change momentum."