WholeHogSports
SONNY SHINES : Weems, Hogs run roughshod over No. 20 Florida
Posted on Sunday, February 3, 2008
URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/61891/
After blocking Nick Calathes’ layup shot from behind, Sonny Weems shot Arkansas irrevocably ahead of the Florida Gators.
Irrevocable doesn’t do justice describing the Razorbacks’ 46-21 halftime lead, 30-point second-half peak advantage and eventual 80-61 SEC thumping that Arkansas hung on the Gators Saturday afternoon before a frenzied full house of 19, 881 at Walton Arena.
Florida, after all, is the national champion of both 2006 and 2007.
Yeah, all the starting pieces are gone pro from coach Billy Donovan’s incredible teams, but these young Gators are still good enough to be ranked 20 th in the country and came into Walton 18-2 and tied with Tennessee at 5-1 for best in the SEC East.
They have been proving the adage youth must be served.
Not this Saturday, though. Unless youth is served on a platter.
A veteran Arkansas team took them to the School of Hard Knocks.
“ You have to give Arkansas credit, ” Donovan said. “ When they come out, they look like a NBA team physically and we look like a very mature high school team. ”
Arkansas dropped the Gators to 18-3, 5-2 while first-year coach John Pelphrey’s Hogs, reeling from successive SEC losses to lower tier East teams South Carolina and Georgia not that long ago, now have won three straight, the last two routs over the nation’s 25 th and 20 th-ranked teams.
The Hogs have improved to 16-5, 5-2 in the SEC West, good for at least second or tied for first depending on Mississippi State (5-1 ) versus Tennessee Saturday night.
Arkansas next plays next Saturday against Ole Miss at Walton Arena with the Rebels now 3-4 in the league after losing Saturday at home to South Carolina.
A big reason this season for the precocious Gators ’ precocious start has been Calathes, the 6-6 freshman point guard leading Florida in scoring and leading and the SEC in assists.
Calathes was about to bring the Gators, down 8-2 early, to an 8-8 tie with an easy breakaway when Weems came flying from about as far as his native West Memphis, it seemed, to block the shot.
“ That was a big deal, ” Pelphrey said of Weems ’ shot block galvanizing the crowd and setting the defensive tone at 14: 10. “ I thought from the defensive side of it we had a lot of energy. I thought our fans ’ energy and passion is what college basketball in the SEC on a Saturday is all about. ”
Calathes eventually did tie it 8-8 at 13: 24, but Weems had set up the Gators to be swamped.
Weems minimized that shot-block’s effect but did say, “ Calathes is the engine of the team. Once you take him out, it’s hard for their offense to do anything. I think we kind of rattled them with our defense. ”
And that led to offense.
One of six Arkansas seniors, Weems (a game-high 17 points ) ignited an 11-0 run with a dunk, a three and a jumper. All were assisted by senior point guard Gary Ervin who then had a steal and layup before senior forward Charles Thomas, back from a one-game disciplinary suspension, completed the 11-0 run with a jumper at 10: 47.
Completing perhaps best half of his Razorback career, Ervin (6 assists, zero turnovers and 8 points in the first stanza and 15 points for the game ) had a steal and buzzer-beating layup to complete a 46-21 first half with some other Arkansas numbers just as shocking.
No shock to anybody, 6-1 Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley, the SEC corebounding leader going into the game, led both teams on the boards with 12.
Back to the shockers, Pelphrey had stressed Florida’s passing and shooting and scoring. Yet at halftime Arkansas had 12 assists to Florida’s 4 and the Gators were 0 for 10 on threes and were 8 for 28 from the first-half field to Arkansas’ 19 of 33.
“ Anytime you shoot like we did, it’s a combination of good defense and poor shooting, ” Donovan said.
With the perimeter out, the Gators were no match inside, especially with Arkansas senior Darian Townes casting a 14-point secondhalf Ground Hog’s Day shadow after going scoreless the first half.
Townes was asked the difference in Arkansas now and those Jan. 16 and Jan. 19 losses to South Carolina here and at Georgia.
“ We kind of got a little bit too cocky, ” Townes said. “ Those two losses were a wake-up call for us to get back together how we were before. We are playing great basketball right now. ”
Why ?
“ The chemistry is there, ” Townes said. “ Everyone is believing in each other and knowing each other’s roles and we are showing it on the court. We still have got a lot to build on. ”