Tulsa triumphs despite late drought

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- With a one-point lead and time winding down, Tulsa was content to hang onto the ball.

The Golden Hurricane (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) dribbled away their final possession against Arkansas, showing little intention of making a move toward the basket.

When Jason Parker missed a 15-footer with about 5 seconds left, the Razorbacks had no time to set up a shot and Tulsa escaped with a 61-60 victory Saturday.

Eric Ferguson's desperation heave from just inside half-court for Arkansas bounced off the backboard and rim.

''The only way we could lose the game was if we take a quick shot at that point,'' Tulsa coach John Phillips said. ''Once I realized that the difference was 5 seconds, we called time and set up to shoot at the last second.''

Kevin Johnson made a free throw to give Tulsa a six-point lead with 2½ minutes left, but it went scoreless the rest of the way. The Golden Hurricane (3-0) led by nine with 11:09 remaining, but Arkansas outscored Tulsa 17-9, led by six points from senior forward Dionisio Gomez.

''We seemed to get too relaxed and let them get back in the game and almost come away with a win,'' said Tulsa guard Dante Swanson, who scored 16 points.

Antonio Reed paced the Golden Hurricane with 17 points. Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Tulsa went ahead 61-55 on Johnson's free throw with 2:24 remaining. Ferguson then made a 3-pointer for Arkansas (1-2), and Swanson missed a jumper.

Kendrick Davis was fouled and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for the Razorbacks. Reed missed a jumper and Alonzo Lane's basket off a drive cut the lead to one point with 41 seconds to go.

Tulsa called its timeout with 24 seconds left to set up Parker's shot.

Lane rebounded, but not until after the ball was batted around momentarily. Arkansas elected not to use its final timeout and Ferguson moved the ball just past midcourt for his game-winning attempt.

''That last shot was better than nothing,'' Ferguson said. ''It was really the only thing I could do.''

Arkansas coach Stan Heath said he only wanted a timeout if no one could put the ball in Ferguson's hands.

''Once we got it to Eric we were kind of in a panic situation,'' Heath said. ''It was my decision to play it that way. If I had it to do over again I would probably do it the same way and just hope the ball bounced a little bit better for us.''

Tulsa took advantage of its experience with senior guards Reed, Swanson and Parker by forcing Ferguson into early foul trouble. The freshman from Long Island led Arkansas with 14 points, but he only played 11 minutes in the first half when the Golden Hurricane built a 35-31 lead.

In the second half, Ferguson played tentative on defense after picking up his third foul with 18:05 left.

Davis, Arkansas' other freshman guard, shot only 2-of-13 and committed three turnovers.

The Razorbacks also showed some inexperience by making just two of six free throws in the final 11 minutes. Arkansas hit just six of 12 for the game.

''We only shot 50 percent from the line -- that's not good,'' Heath said. ''It has to improve in order to win ballgames.''

Gomez had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Razorbacks, who outrebounded Tulsa 41-26.

Tulsa had lost seven straight to Arkansas since 1987, when the Hurricane won 86-47 against the Razorbacks -- coached by Nolan Richardson in his first game against his former school.

Tulsa's previous win in Fayetteville was 64-40 in 1974 during Eddie Sutton's first season at Arkansas. The Razorbacks haven't beaten a ranked non-conference opponent during the regular season since a 70-69 victory over No. 12 Fresno State on Nov. 29, 1997.

The Golden Hurricane took a 52-43 lead with 11:09 left on a transition layup by Jarius Glenn, but Arkansas scored seven straight points with back-to-back offensive rebounds by Carl Baker and a spinning shot by Gomez pulling the Razorbacks to 52-50 with 8:33 to go.

Arkansas took a 7-1 lead before Ferguson committed his second foul with 16:04 remaining in the half on a basket by Reed. Tulsa missed its first four shots.

Tulsa went ahead with a 10-1 spurt while Ferguson was on the bench in the next five minutes. He tied the game with a 3-pointer when he returned, but Tulsa took a 23-18 lead after a pair of baskets by Glenn, including a 3-pointer off the backboard.

Arkansas tied it at 24, but the Hurricane took a 35-31 halftime lead following consecutive 3-pointers by Reed, who scored 11 points in the half.