Hogs upset Michigan in fast-paced game

By JIMMY CARTER

Special to the Arkansas News Bureau

FAYETTEVILLE — For the first half, Arkansas played the style of basketball it did the last time it faced Michigan, in 1997 — fast-paced and in front of a big crowd.

During the second half, the Razorbacks had to try to hold off a comeback from the No. 19 Wolverines.

Michigan guard Trey Burke’s 3-pointer went halfway down before rimming out at the buzzer and allowing the Hogs to hang on for a 66-64 upset in front of the largest Bud Walton Arena crowd in nearly three years.

“A lot of things came together,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “To me it was fitting, maybe not how it ended, but it was fitting that we win. It went down to the last second. We were very fortunate, but for me it’s great to see that.”

The Hogs never trailed, but Michigan used 10-0 and 12-4 runs in the second half to fight back from a 13-point halftime deficit and pull within two points with less than four minutes remaining.

“They came out and made some shots and we missed a couple of layups and before you know it you could see the momentum changing,” Anderson said. “We kind of kept them a hand away but then all of a sudden you let a team hang around, there are windows of opportunity and I thought they seized those opportunities.”

Arkansas almost blew the big lead it built after making its first 11 shots and taking a 29-10 lead.

The Razorbacks didn’t miss their first shot until there were less than 10 minutes remaining in the half, getting the season-high 19,050 fans involved early.

“Arkansas is young, but that is probably the quickest team we’ll see all year long,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “Took us a while to get adjusted … It’s tough to simulate. I know what somebody must play when they play the Southeastern Conference in football and you’re trying to simulate it every day.”

Burke had an opportunity to win the game for the Wolverines on the final possession, getting a clean look despite Arkansas senior guard Julysses Nobles’ tight defense.

“When I saw it released out of his hands, it looked short,” Arkansas freshman guard BJ Young said. “Then I saw it drop in, then it bounced back out. It was just excitement from there.”

Burke’s shot would have been a game-winner because Young and Nobles each missed the front end of one-and-ones at the free throw line with less than 30 seconds remaining.

“They were the cardiac kids when they went to the free-throw line going down the stretch,” Anderson said. “We had the guys we want on the free throw line, but they didn’t knock them down.”

The missed free throws wouldn’t matter.

Burke’s miss sent the season-high crowd and Razorback players into celebration. The win gave the Hogs their first 14-0 start in Bud Walton since the 1997-98 season.

“The atmosphere, it takes us up maybe eight to 10 points more and we needed every point today,” Anderson said. “I’ve got some coaches on my staff that have come with me that have never really seen the Razorback fans in full effect at a basketball game. They got a taste of it today and I think they like it.”

Arkansas freshman forward Hunter Mickelson gave the Hogs a 66-62 lead and scored the eventual game-winner on a lay-in off a feed from Young with one second left on the shot clock and 36.7 left in the game.

“We put them in a special set that we run,” Anderson said. “We put the ball in BJ’s hands. He was having a very good game and he made the right play. It was good to see him make the right play and trust his teammate. To Hunter’s credit, he showed his agility by going in there and finishing off his shot.”

Mickelson finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks while playing 23 minutes after senior forward Marvell Waithe left with a strained calf muscle two minutes into the game and didn’t return.

“He’s going to be a great talent,” Beilein said. “Today, most of his stuff was off drop-offs. I think the one shot he made at the end, he had no thought it was ever going in the way it came off his hand, but it went in.”

Young finished with a team-high 15 points and returned after a nasty fall midway through the second half when he was fouled hard by Michigan guard Zach Novak while going up for a fast-break dunk. Novak was assessed a flagrant-1 foul.

“Good hard foul,” Young said. “I was trying to find the ground coming down. It seemed like I would never hit the ground, but when I did it was pretty hard. It’s OK. I know fouls like that happen all the time.”

Young left the game briefly, but returned during a dead ball just seven seconds later.

Novak scored a game-high 17 points and led three Wolverines in double-figures, but Michigan shot just 41 percent from the field and couldn’t overcome its early deficit.

“Once we (adjusted), we played a really good game, but the early lead hurt us,” Beilein said.

The Hogs earned their second home win over a ranked opponent in two weeks and bounced back from an 86-63 defeat at No. 2 Kentucky on Wednesday.

“We just came out ready to put that Kentucky game behind us and move on to the next one and show everybody that wasn’t our team, that it was just a bad game,” Young said. “We came out with higher energy and higher intensity.”