FAYETTEVILLE — Morgan State senior guard Reggie Holmes wasn’t in a talkative mood after he was held to nine points in the Bears’ 90-81 loss at Louisville.
“I just couldn’t wait to play again after the loss Sunday,” Holmes said. “I played 16 minutes. I was upset.
“I didn’t take no phone calls from nobody the last couple of days. I was sad that I fouled out and we lost that game. I couldn’t wait to get back.”
Holmes should be taking plenty of calls after scoring 34 points to lead Morgan State to a 97-94 victory over Arkansas on Tuesday night before an announced crowd of 7,468 at Walton Arena.
“I’ll take some phone calls now,” Holmes said with a smile.
Morgan State (4-1) handed Arkansas its first nonconference loss in Walton Arena in five seasons, breaking a streak of 45 consecutive victories since the Razorbacks lost to Western Carolina 62-59 in overtime on Dec. 22, 2004.
“It’s very frustrating to us, and I know it’s frustrating probably to the whole state of Arkansas,” said sophomore guard Rotnei Clarke, who led the Razorbacks with 26 points. “Obviously, we’re not very happy with it.”
Clarke hit 4 of 8 three pointers, including two in the final 14 seconds to pull Arkansas within 95-94.
But after Holmes hit two free throws to make it 97-94 with 6.3 seconds left, Clarke couldn’t hit a rushed, contested three-point attempt. His shot at the buzzer missed the goal.
“They played it pretty well defensively, but I had a decent look at it,” Clarke said. “I probably rushed it too much and didn’t have my feet set and just missed it.”
Holmes finished 8 of 16 from the field, including 5 of 10 on three-pointers. He hit 13 of 15 free throws and was 6 of 6 in the final 30.3 seconds.
The Bears hit 10 consecutive free throws in the final 1:46 to hold off the Razorbacks.
“When you win right before Thanksgiving, the turkey tastes a little bit better,” Morgan State Coach Todd Bozeman said. “I‘m proud of our guys, because we worked hard for it.”
After 13 lead changes and nine ties, Morgan State junior guard Joe Davis hit a 15-foot jumper to give the Bears the lead for good at 85-83 with 2:21 left. The transfer from Cleveland State finished with 18 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
“We were waiting for him to have a breakout game, and this was it,” Bozeman said. “He’s been shaking the rust off, and he stepped up for us tonight.”
Arkansas hit 35 of 45 free throws and shot 50.9 percent from the field (27 of 53), but Morgan State outrebounded the Razorbacks 40-26 and outscored them 20-5 on second-chance points.
“They did a good in their prior games rebounding the basketball, and we talked about needing to win the rebounding battle, and we didn’t,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “And we didn’t win the game.
“Offense didn’t lose it for us. Not being able to rebound and defend in half-court or transition is really what hurt us.”
Morgan State 6-8 sophomore forward Kevin Thompson had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
“He rebounded the ball better than our whole frontcourt did,” Pelphrey said.
Senior forward Michael Washington had a season-high 21 points for the Razorbacks. Freshman forward Marshawn Powell and freshman point guard Julysses Nobles added 17 points each.
Morgan State, which played in the NCAA Tournament last season and is favored to win the Mid-Eastern Conference championship again, improved to 20-16 on the road the past three seasons, including victories at Maryland and DePaul last year.
“We knew what they were capable of,” Clarke said. “We knew they played Louisville really well. They just outplayed us tonight.”
Arkansas senior guard Stefan Welsh played for the first time this season after being on indefinite suspension.He finished with 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 20 minutes.
“He made some good plays,” Pelphrey said. “But none of us made enough to win.”
Holmes made plenty of big plays to make sure Morgan State won. Bozeman called him the epitome of a leader and noted he’s a business major with a 3.0 grade-point average.
“He doesn’t miss class. He doesn’t miss weights,” Bozeman said. “He’s never late. He does all he’s supposed to do.
“Very nice and mild off the court, but a tiger on the court. I love the kid.
“I can’t imagine what senior night is going to be like. Both of us are going to be holding boxes of tissues.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 11/25/2009