NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Teddy Gipson added
13 as Arkansas rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit in beating LSU 77-72 Friday night in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Razorbacks (20-9) gave coach Nolan Richardson 20 victories for the 12th
time in his 16 seasons and another trip to the semifinals where they will play
No. 15 Kentucky, a 78-65 winner over South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon.
They have missed the semifinals only once since their first SEC Tournament
in 1992.
The defending champions had a bye in the opening round as the No. 2 seed
from the West and looked rusty, while LSU (13-16) tried to notch its second
straight upset in the tournament.
The Tigers hit four straight 3s to open the game. But with only five healthy
scholarship players, they hit only three more the rest of the way and couldn't
keep up with the deeper Razorbacks.
The Razorbacks opened the second half with a 15-6 run capped by a Jannero
Pargo layup with 12:14 that tied it up at 44. Gipson then gave Arkansas its
first lead at 46-45 with a pair of free throws.
It went back and forth before Johnson's 3 put Arkansas ahead to stay at
54-51 with 9:21 to go. He added a couple more 3-pointers as Arkansas padded its
lead down the stretch.
LSU made it interesting at the end, whittling a 73-61 lead with 2:11 left
with a 9-0 run. Collis Temple III's 3 with 45.2 seconds left pulled the Tigers
within 73-70. That would be it as the Razorbacks hit a couple free throws and a
last-second bucket to seal the victory.
Pargo finished with 10 points for Arkansas.
The Tigers could have kept themselves in the game by hitting more free
throws. They went 25-of-40 at the line.
LSU led by as much as 34-16 on a bucket by Ronald Dupree with 3:29 left in
the first half, but Arkansas got going in the final minute and Brandon Dean's
two free throws with 11.1 left pulled the Razorbacks within 38-29 at halftime.
Dupree finished with 22 points to lead LSU, and Temple had 20 and Torris
Bright 13.
AP NEWS
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