University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
#25 Arkansas
Memphis Falls Short To No. 25 Arkansas, 74-68
Dec 02, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2000
By HARRY KING
AP Sports Writer
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Memphis coach John Calipari saw enough of Arkansas' Teddy Gipson to issue a warning for other Southeastern Conference teams.
"If you're an SEC team and you can't guard off the dribble, you'll have a hard time with Arkansas," Calipari said Saturday. "They attack you and beat you off the dribble unlike many teams you'll see."
Gipson dribbled inside to produce two key baskets late in the second half and help No. 25 Arkansas beat Memphis 74-68 Saturday.
Gipson penetrated and slipped the ball to Alonzo Lane for a dunk and a 67-59 advantage. The next time down, Gipson made a similar move, faked a pass and was good with a left-handed layup with 3:02 to play.
The Razorbacks (5-1) led the final 17 1/2 minutes, although the Tigers (2-4) were as close as three with 11 minutes to play. At that point, Blake Eddins, who led Arkansas with 15 points, hit a baseline jumper on an inbounds play and followed with a three-point play.
"Blake Eddins got us going," said Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson.
Prior to that, the Tigers had some momentum. After a wild sequence, Scooter McFadgon put back his own miss and Shannon Forman made a layup as the Tigers closed to 53-50.
Joe Johnson, who scored 12 points for Arkansas, hit from the outside for a 63-56 lead.
After one of Memphis' 20 turnovers, Lane set a tough screen for Johnson who headed for the baseline. Two defenders jumped Johnson and herded him past the basket. From there, he somehow got a pass to Lane for a left-handed layup and a 65-56 lead.
But the Tigers fought back. Kelly Wise, who led Memphis with 20 points, made a free throw and then scored inside. Gipson, who scored 12, then contributed his two big plays.
"Some people want us to be inside-oriented," Richardson said. "We attack you but it might be Teddy driving to the back and dishing it back out. That's our version of the inside out."
Calipari said more than half of the Tigers' turnovers occurred when their big players were unable to catch passes "because of the way they were getting banged."
"This is a case of a very aggressive Arkansas team that took it right at us," he said. "They were playing very physical and it's an Arkansas team that's not supposed to be physical."
Memphis scored seven straight points for an early 14-11 lead, but Jannero Pargo's 3 tied it at 16 with 11:42 left in the half.
Arkansas went ahead on T.J. Cleveland's 3 before Forman responded with a 3 to tie it at 23.
Against Memphis' defense in the first half, Arkansas often used 20 seconds or more before getting a shot. Deep in the first half, Arkansas had made one third of its 27 shots.
The Razorbacks picked up the tempo in the second half and shot better than 50 percent after the break.
"The difference in the game is they were shooting 54 percent in the first half, but we finally got into their legs and their shots stopped falling," Richardson said.
