Arm’s Length From Repeat Arkansas Uses Strong Defense To Trip Virginia

For the first time in this NCAA tournament, defending champion Arkansas didn’t have to sweat out a tight finish.

The second-seeded Razorbacks, outstanding on defense all game, beat No. 4 seed Virginia 68-61 Sunday in the Midwest Regional final. They will play Southeast Regional champion North Carolina on Saturday in Seattle.

“It’s nice to be able to pull away and look good doing it,” said coach Nolan Richardson, who had seen his team survive a one-point game in the first round, then two straight overtime games to reach the regional final.

“It looked like the old Razorbacks of yesterday, when we went on a roll and our defense took the game over,” he said.

Corliss Williamson led Arkansas with 21 points and nine rebounds. Scotty Thurman added 17 points for the Razorbacks, who will be making their sixth Final Four appearance and third this decade.

For much of the game, Arkansas (31-6) played at a tempo that was more to Virginia’s liking. Arkansas scored only four transition baskets in the first half and played a zone defense most of the time.

The Razorbacks started to trap more often in the second half, and late in the game used full-court pressure to harass the Cavaliers. Virginia (25-9) wound up shooting 33.9 percent, a season low.

“They do a good job of pressuring you and making you speed up,” said Junior Burrough, who closed his Virginia career with 22 points and 16 rebounds. “They have a reckless abandon for the basketball.”

Virginia coach Jeff Jones thought his team got good looks at the basket down the stretch, “but the shots themselves I think were rushed.”

“Even though you’re open, you want to get it up there quickly” because of Arkansas’ pursuit, he said. “That can be the difference.”

Virginia led 35-29 after a 3-pointer by Curtis Staples with 15:34 remaining. Then Dwight Stewart made a 3-pointer to start Arkansas on a 9-0 run.

Virginia’s final lead was 39-37 with 10:25 to play. Davor Rimac’s 3-pointer 15 seconds later pushed Arkansas ahead, then Williamson scored nine of the Razorback’s next 10 points to make the score 51-46.

A follow shot by Burrough brought Virginia within 51-48 with 4:28 to go. Then Arkansas held the Cavaliers without a basket for about 2 minutes, outscoring them 11-1 to take a 62-49 lead. Three other players had a hand in the spurt.

“They got down and did the dirty work, made some shots and they won,” Burrough said.

He had scored Virginia’s first three field goals, but it took him nearly 8 minutes to do it. Then the Cavaliers went 8 minutes without another field goal, although they made up for it by going 10-of-14 from the foul line during that time.

Virginia finally started hitting some perimeter shots late in the half. Consecutive jumpers by Harold Deane made the score 25-22, but two free throws by Williamson and a 3-pointer by Thurman gave Arkansas a 27-25 halftime lead.

“We stayed with our game and stuck to our game plan and tried to do everything we could to contain them,” Deane said.

Williamson, known primarily as an inside player, took more outside shots than usual.

“Coach had told me I was staying on the inside too much, where everything was clogged up,” he said. “He told me to move outside some on the wing and then pop back through there and things would open up. I was able to do that, plus when I was able to take the shot from the corner, it fell for me.”

But Virginia’s success from the line fell off in the second half. The Cavaliers hit just 7-of-14, most of those when the game was close, while Arkansas made 10-of-12 on its way to the 13-point lead.

“I don’t think their offense was the deciding factor,” Jones said. “I think it was their defense, their free throw shooting and their depth. They just keep coming at you.”

“I’m proud of the fact that there’s a lot of doubt taken out of the fans and a lot of the peoples’ minds,” Richardson said. “We did what we had to do, clawed and scratched.”

Arkansas 68, Virginia 61

VIRGINIA (25-9)

Williford 0-3 4-8 4, Burrough 6-14 9-11 22, Alexander 0-2 0-0 3, Staples 6-15 0-0 16, Deane 4-16 3-7 12, Barnes 0-1 1-2 1, J.Robinson 3-5 0-0 6, Nolan 0-0 0-0 0, Ellsworth 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 17-28 61.

ARKANSAS (31-6)

Thurman 7-16 1-2 17, Martin 0-2 0-0 0, Williamson 8-13 5-6 21, McDaniel 1-2 2-2 4, Beck 1-5 5-6 7, Stewart 1-7 2-2 5, Dillard 1-5 1-1 3, D.Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Rimac 2-4 0-0 6, Wilson 2-2 1-2 5, Garrett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 17-21 68.

Halftime-Arkansas 27, Virginia 25. 3-Point goals-Virginia 6-21 (Staples 4-10, Burrough 1-1, Deane 1-9, Williford 0-1), Arkansas 5-24 (Rimac 2-4, Thurman 2-6, Stewart 1-6, McDaniel 0-1, D.Robinson 0-1, Martin 0-2, Dillard 0-2, Beck 0-2). Fouled out-Williford. Rebounds-Virginia 41 (Burrough 16), Arkansas 43 (Williamson 9). Assists-Virginia 9 (Williford 4), Arkansas 13 (Beck, Williamson 3). Total fouls-Virginia 22, Arkansas 22. A-15,622.

MEMO: This is a sidebar which appeared with story: NCAA TOURNAMENT Midwest Regional Championship Arkansas 68, Virginia 61 East Regional Championship Oklahoma State 68, Massachusetts 54

Final Four (in Seattle) Oklahoma State (27-9) vs. UCLA (29-2) North Carolina (28-5) vs. Arkansas (31-6)