Downey thrives at the line as Arkansas struggles

BY RAINER SABIN Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/61273/

Devan Downey wanted to seize the opportunity in front of him. This was another chance to prove himself to his teammates. A sophomore transfer from Cincinnati, Downey knows there is no time to waste.

“ If you want to be the leader and the go-to guy, that’s your job, ” Downey said. “ When the game is in crunch time, you want to have the ball and you want to make the free throws. ”

And down the stretch of South Carolina’s surprising 70-66 victory over Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday, that is exactly what Downey, the Gamecocks’ savvy point guard, did.

In the last five minutes, he made six of seven free throws while scoring a team-high 28 points — relishing the pressure moments at the line. For a guy who had played all 40 minutes, Downey’s stroke was unaffected by any fatigue that might have set in by that point.

“ You’ve got to make free throws to seal the deal, ” said South Carolina guard Zam Fredrick. “ Increasing your lead when the clock’s going down is the key to closing the win. ”

But whereas South Carolina (9-8, 1-2 ) made its free throws toward the end of regulation, Arkansas didn’t. The Razorbacks connected on only two of seven foul shots in the final five minutes — missing opportunities to either tie the score of grab the lead.

“ You make those and you’re in a position to come back, ” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said.

After the game, Hill rued the fact the Razorbacks (13-4, 2-1 SEC ) didn’t come through when it counted.

“ We made some and missed some, ” Hill said. “ We’ve got to shoot a high percentage from the freethrow line in order to win close ball games. We didn’t do that tonight. ”

Arkansas’ mediocre performance at the line — 68 percent — was its worse since its 74-67 loss to Appalachian State in North Little Rock on Dec. 22.

In that game, the Razorbacks made only 14 of 25 foul shots while the Mountaineers hit all 12 of theirs.

“ The Appalachian State game is over with, ” Arkansas senior forward Charles Thomas said. “ We missed our free throws. They made theirs. ”

Flash forward to Wednesday night and the same scenario play out in front of the Razorbacks. They watched South Carolina and, in particular Downey, thrive at the foul line. The Gamecocks hit 12 of 25 free throws. Downey, meanwhile, missed only one of his 12 attempts.

Of all of his achievements Wednesday, that was perhaps Downey’s biggest. He scored 12 of the first Gamecocks’ 18 points, made six steals and gave the Razorbacks fits by slashing to the basket with lightning-quick drives. But he made his mark when it was just him, the basket and thousands of fans screaming at him to miss.

“ He’s an all-league guy, ” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said.

By maintaining his poise in the final minutes, Downey showed why. But after the game, he didn’t think his performance in the waning moments was that big of a deal.

“ That’s my job, ” he said.