Georgia hands Arkansas fifth straight loss

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Georgia turned up the defensive pressure and coasted to a rare win at Arkansas.

Ezra Williams scored 19 points and the (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP) Bulldogs held Arkansas to 15 first-half points in an 81-64 victory Saturday.

"We were here two years ago and they pressed us really hard and came back and won,'' Williams said. "It's different coming back here and not seeing Arkansas press.''

Jarvis Hayes added 15 points for Georgia (10-4, 2-1 Southeastern Conference), which won at Arkansas for the first time in six meetings.

Eric Ferguson scored 17 points and Kendrick Davis added 15 for the Razorbacks (5-9, 0-3), who have lost five in a row for the first time since Nolan Richardson's first year at Arkansas in the 1985-86 season.

It's also the first time the Razorbacks have lost three in a row at Bud Walton Arena since it opened in 1993.

"That's sad, it's depressing and embarrassing,'' Arkansas senior Carl Baker said. "It hurts real bad, but we've just got to keep a positive attitude and keep trying to get better.''

Georgia had its eight-game winning streak snapped last Saturday in a 66-63 loss to No. 11 Florida, but had few problems against Arkansas.

The Bulldogs' press frustrated the Razorbacks' young guards as Georgia took a 33-15 halftime lead. The Razorbacks shot just 23 percent in the half, shooting just 5-of-22 and committing 12 turnovers.

"I think we got them in a hurry-up mode a little bit,'' Georgia coach Jim Harrick said. "The press was really good to us.''

It was the second straight game Arkansas scored just 15 points in a half. The Razorbacks shot just 32.1 percent in the second half of a 52-37 loss to Auburn last Saturday.

The Bulldogs quickly stretched the lead to 52-21 behind 10 points from Hayes, who was 6-of-6 from the field. "He's been patient and letting the shots come to him,'' Harrick said.

The Razorbacks bounced back somewhat in the second half with 49 points, their best scoring half of the season. Arkansas committed just six turnovers, but still shot just 30.8 percent from the field for the game.

The Razorbacks played with more passion after first-year coach Stan Heath picked up the first technical foul of his career with 12:58 remaining. Heath charged down the sideline after Davis drove to the basket and ended up at the base of the goal.

"I was just trying to protect my guy,'' Heath said. "I really felt there was contact on the play. I was just really frustrated at the time and no, it was not planned.''

Arkansas didn't cut the lead to under 20 until just 1:08 remained on a 3-pointer by Ferguson.

When Hayes gave the Bulldogs a 14-4 lead with 9:41 to go in the first half, Arkansas had more fouls -- five -- than points and was 1-of-13 from the field.

Georgia led 28-11 after a 3-pointer by Williams with 3:05 remaining in the half, and Arkansas was 3-of-17 from the field with 10 turnovers.

"That's a big-time basketball team right there,'' Heath said. "Hayes and Williams are dynamite from the wing. They just present so many problems and that's definitely going to be a team that contends for a championship in our league.''