S.Carolina steals win from Arkansas

Posted 6:39AM on Thursday 17th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - For Arkansas, the good times lasted 7.5 minutes. Trailing South Carolina by 12, Brandon Dean made his first shot of the second half a 3 with 10:42 to play. When he made his fourth 3 of the night with 3:03 to play, the Razorbacks were even with the Gamecocks for the first time since late in the first half. Down the stretch, it was Jamel Bradley and his South Carolina (11-5, 1-2 SEC) teammates who made enough plays to prevail 62-60. ``We were out of sync the whole ball game except when we came back,'' Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson said. ``We understood going into this game that Arkansas can make runs at anytime,'' South Carolina's Aaron Lucas said. ``We just needed to withstand it and maintain our composure. Making big shots is what you have to do in a game like this and we did that.'' Bradley, who twice hit 3s after Arkansas (10-6, 2-2) narrowed the lead to three, had the ball 20 feet from the basket with the score tied at 60 and the clock closing in on the final minute. He exploded past Carl Baker and was not seriously challenged on his way to a layup that was the difference. Richardson said Teddy Gipson was supposed to guard Bradley, but there was a switch. ``Baker can cover a guard so that wasn't a big problem,'' he said. ``We play help defense, but nobody picked him up when he went around.'' ``In their stretch run, I just made some shots,'' Bradley said. ``I feel confident in my shot when I get my feet set, and my teammates started to feel that confidence and felt I would make anything I shot.'' Rolando Howell's three straight short-range baskets helped the Gamecocks to a double-digit lead and the margin was 40-27 with 15.5 minutes left. Brandon Dean, Arkansas' most consistent shooter in recent weeks, did not attempt a shot in the second half until he made a 3 more than nine minutes deep in the period. T.J. Cleveland's 3 and Dean's fast break basket cut it to 47-40. Dean deflected a pass, glanced over his shoulder and then stuffed it emphatically. After another steal, Cleveland fed Dean for a layup that cut it to 47-44. Dean tied it at 58 with another 3. After Bradley made it 62-60, Alonzo Lane fumbled the ball, but Arkansas got another chance when Chuck Eidson took steps with 27 seconds to play. After two timeouts, Dean's jumper in the lane was way short and Marius Petravicius rebounded. He missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds to play, but Jannero Pargo was way off on a 3. Arkansas had the ball out of bounds with three-tenths of a second to play - not enough time to catch and shoot - and the refs waved off Gipson's attempt from the corner. Dean scored 12 of his game-high 18 in the final 10:42. ``Brandon played his heart out,'' Richardson said. Arkansas made 13 more free throws than the Gamecocks, but South Carolina had eight more field goals. ``We had a lot of open shots and made a lot of our open shots,'' South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. ``We had been missing them in the last few weeks and knew it had to change sometime. ``The crowd just wasn't into it as much in the first half,'' he said. ``They showed up late and we took advantage.'' Bradley led South Carolina with 16 points. Howell scored half of his 12 during a 91-second span when the Gamecocks moved in front 37-26. South Carolina had 14 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points. ``We couldn't box out the big boys,'' Richardson said. Arkansas made 6-of-22 in the first half and was 7-of-29 more than seven minutes deep in the second half. ``We got good looks, we just didn't hit them,'' Gipson said.

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