Georgia may not be the best basketball team in the Southeastern Conference, but Dennis Felton’s Bulldogs do have the most hustle, heart and toughness in the league.

And over the last four days, the Bulldogs (17-16 ) parlayed those lately found attributes into an SEC Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia’s play most likely saved Felton’s job for him. The well-respected coach was on the hotseat when he arrived in Atlanta. It should be considerably cooler now.

The Bulldogs, who came into the tournament with a sub-. 500 record, capped an arduous four days of basketball by defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks, 66-57, Sunday in the tourney finals at Alexander Memorial Arena at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta.

After tornado damage to the Georgia Dome forced its game with Kentucky to be postponed Friday, Georgia, who defeated Ole Miss in overtime Thursday, beat Kentucky in overtime Saturday afternoon and whipped Mississippi State Saturday night.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some felt the Bulldogs would be too worn down from doubling up on Saturday to beat Arkansas Sunday.

How wrong we were.

The Bulldogs played like a freight train bound for the NCAA Tournament, and the Razorbacks played like the team that had played two games in an eleven-hour period.

Just like in their 82-69, Jan. 19 victory over the Razorbacks, the Bulldogs played sharp and alert while bolting a 19-point first-half lead, while the Hogs did their best karaoke cover of Led Zeppelin’s acid rock classic “ Dazed and Confused. ”

How could a team play so strong and tough in defeating SEC big boys Vanderbilt and Tennessee on Friday and Saturday and then appear so flaccid and limp in the SEC Tournament title game ?

It’s a form of the question that has puzzled Razorback fans for three seasons and first-year head coach John Pelphrey every day since Oct. 15.

Pelphrey knows his club. He almost predicted Sunday’s weak first-half effort Saturday night when he drew upon his playing days at Kentucky. As a Wildcat, he noticed a trend that when a team upset the Wildcats, they would lose their next game. He warned the same might happen to his Hogs after upsetting the Vols, 92-91, in the semifinals.

“ We need to back up a great performance with another great performance, ” Pelphrey cautioned.

No doubt, he did more than caution his squad in the halftime lockerroom Sunday.

Late in the first half, the Bulldogs showed some fatigue from playing their third game in two days and the Hogs reduced their deficit to 36-26.

The Razorbacks came out after the half hot and pulled themselves back into the game by the 14: 53 mark.

The Hogs had the ball trailing 40-34 with a great opportunity to cut within 4, but the Razorbacks coughed up backto-back turnovers like clockwork allowing the Bulldogs to gather a second wind.

Over the next four minutes, Terrance Woodbury buried back-to-back treys and then Sundiata Gaines matched him to push Georgia’s lead to 51-36 with 9: 41 to play.

Arkansas’ only answer during that span was an inside basket by Darian Townes.

The Razorbacks made another run at Georgia. Gary Ervin stopped and popped a trey at 5: 43.

Charles Thomas would not be denied getting two offensive rebounds before finishing with a critical stickback at 4: 44.

Sonny Weems then channeled Dr. J. with a swooping drive to the basket for a bucket at 4: 19 and the Hogs were within 56-53.

But after a timeout, Georgia beat the Razorbacks on several hustle plays that allowed Albert Jackson to throw down a dunk at 2: 47 and Billy Humphrey to drive another dagger into the Hogs with a 3-pointer at 1: 53 to boost the lead to 61-53 with 1: 33 to play.

From there, the Bulldogs put the game, the SEC championship and an NCAA Tournament bid in the bag at the free-throw line.

Again, Sunday’s performance was nothing new by the Hogs. One might have expected it.

The Hogs did some things well Sunday in fighting back to make a game of it after falling behind by 19, but their lapses in intensity, focus and toughness cost them the opportunity to cut down the SEC nets when the scissors were firmly in their hand.

Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.