Arkansas upends No. 4 Tennessee

By Associated Press     Mar 16, 2008

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl pleads with his team during a loss to Arkansas. The Razorbacks stunned the Vols, 92-91, possibly costing Tennessee a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

? Steven Hill made one basket the entire game. It may knock Tennessee out of a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.

Hill hit a turnaround jumper with 5.3 seconds remaining for his only points, and Arkansas knocked off fourth-ranked Tennessee 92-91 Saturday night in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, a serious blow to the Volunteers’ chances of claiming a top spot in one of the NCAA brackets.

“Wherever we’re seeded,” coach Bruce Pearl said defiantly, “we’ll go play.”

The Razorbacks (22-10) surely locked up an NCAA bid and advanced to face either Georgia in today’s championship game. Tennessee (29-4) claimed its first regular-season title in 41 years, then fell short of pulling off a double in the storm-plagued tournament.

“We had our hearts set on playing for the championship and making history,” Lofton said. “But all along we were talking about the big dance, and we’ll start that next week.”

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl pleads with his team during a loss to Arkansas. The Razorbacks stunned the Vols, 92-91, possibly costing Tennessee a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The game was played before an estimated crowd of 2,000 at Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where the final two days of the tournament were moved after a tornado ripped through the Georgia Dome during the quarterfinals Friday night.

The teams went back-and-forth the entire game, the last five of 17 lead changes coming in the final 3 minutes. JuJuan Smith dumped in a layup with 23 seconds left to put Tennessee ahead 91-90, and the Vols called a 30-second timeout to set up their defense.

Trying to create something off the dribble, Gary Ervin nearly slipped to ruin Arkansas’ final chance. But the guard kept his footing and worked the ball inside to Hill, a bearded, 7-foot senior who had missed his lone shot of the game. Working down low, he caught the pass along the baseline, calmly turned and sank the winning basket from about six feet over Wayne Chism.

“I obviously did not expect to take that shot,” Hill said. “Or any other shot that late in the game. They gave it to me, and time was running out, so I kind of threw it up there and put it in.”

Tennessee rushed the ball upcourt and put it in the hands of its most reliable player. Chris Lofton, who hit a three-pointer with 11.4 seconds left to beat South Carolina in the quarterfinals, had another shot from just inside the arc. This time, it rimmed out.

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (50) shoots the game-winning basket. UNC defeated Virginia Tech, 68-66, Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.

“It was a perfect setting,” Lofton said. “It just didn’t work out for me.”

No. 1 North Carolina 68, Virginia Tech 66

Charlotte, N.C. – Tyler Hansbrough has relentlessly chased the ball all season. That aggressiveness is a big reason why No. 1 North Carolina barely avoided a stunning upset in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Saturday.

The All-American grabbed a loose rebound and hit a jumper with 0.8 seconds left to help the Tar Heels beat Virginia Tech 68-66 in the semifinals, keeping their tournament title defense alive and dealing a painful blow to the Hokies’ NCAA Tournament hopes.

Hansbrough finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for top-seeded North Carolina (31-2).

“I just caught it and let if fly,” Hansbrough said.

It swished through the net, sending the ACC’s player of the year running downcourt furiously pumping his fists.

“I’m not going to lie,” he said of the celebration. “I kind of overdid it.”

No. 2 Memphis 77, Tulsa 51

Memphis, Tenn. – Antonio Anderson scored 19 points, and No. 2 Memphis added a third straight Conference USA tournament championship to the Tigers’ third consecutive regular-season title.

Anderson hit 4-of-5 from three-point range to become the third player to lead the Tigers in scoring in as many games. He and Chris Douglas-Roberts, who added 16 points, went a combined 14-of-17 from the floor. Jeff Robinson had 11 off the bench.

No. 3 UCLA 67, No. 11 Stanford 64

Los Angeles – Darren Collison scored 28 points, and UCLA won the Pac-10 tournament title.

The Bruins used a 22-8 run in the second half to earn their 10th victory in a row and add the title to their third consecutive regular-season crown.

Freshman Kevin Love overcame back spasms to score 12 points, giving him double figures in all 34 games he’s played this season. Russell Westbrook had 11 rebounds.

UCLA led by 10 with two minutes remaining before Stanford whittled its deficit to 65-64 on a dunk by Lawrence Hill with three seconds to go. The Cardinal fouled Collison, who made both for a three-point cushion. He was named tournament MVP.

Clemson 78, No. 7 Duke 74

Charlotte, N.C. – Trevor Booker scored 18 points, Cliff Hammonds added 17, and Clemson, the perennial pushover in the Atlantic Coast Conference, stunned Duke to reach the tournament title game for the first time in 46 years.

The third-seeded Tigers, who had lost 22 straight games to the Blue Devils, pulled away in the second half.

No. 8 Wisconsin 65, No. 19 Michigan State 63

Indianapolis – Brian Butch scored 19, Marcus Landry added 18 and Joe Krabbenhoft had 11 points and 10 rebounds as Wisconsin held off a foul-challenged Michigan State and earned its second straight trip to the Big Ten title game.

Wisconsin will play Illinois, which beat Minnesota 54-50.

Wisconsin won despite going only 26-of-37 from the free-throw line.

Pittsburgh 74, No. 9 Georgetown 65

New York – Ronald Ramon scored 17 points, and Pittsburgh won its second Big East tournament championship in its eighth title-game.

The seventh-seeded Panthers shed their runner-up tag with a performance just like those in all the other championship games: a blue-collar effort without a star player.

Roy Hibbert had 17 points for the Hoyas, who were trying to sweep the regular-season and tournament titles for a second straight season.

UNLV 76, No. 24 BYU 61

Las Vegas – UNLV upset top-seeded BYU in the Mountain West championship for the second straight season.

Wink Adams had 23 points and was at his best down the stretch, scoring 14 points in the final 6:48, including a trio of three-pointers, as the second-seeded Runnin’ Rebels turned a close contest into a rout.

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