FAYETTEVILLE — Two weeks after being buried at Kentucky, the Arkansas Razorbacks have risen to stand alone atop the SEC West.
The Razorbacks beat Auburn 82-79 in overtime Saturday before a season-high announced crowd of 15,036 at Walton Arena for their fourth consecutive victory since losing at Kentucky 101-70.
Arkansas (12-11, 5-3) moved into sole possession of first place in the West with Mississippi State’s loss at Florida.
“I think our guys deserve a lot of credit,” Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey said.“We’re very humble about the fact of where we are.
“We understand, too, that we could have lost any of those four games as well as we won them.
“We understand who we are, but for what was said and written about those young men - really all season long - and after that game in Lexington, nobody gave them a chance to be where they are right now.”
The Razorbacks rallied from deficits of eight or more points in beating Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia and Auburn and have won four games in 10 days after going 2-14 in SEC play last season.
“I mean, that makes us feel great,” said sophomore guard Courtney Fortson, who led Arkansas on Saturday with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. “The No. 1 thing is the hard work is paying off.
“We’re seeing our progress as we move to each game, and I think that’s a big part of it.”
Fortson scored 10 of the Razorbacks’ 15 points in overtime after Auburn forced the extra five-minute period when Andre Malone’s only rebound and basket of the game resulted in a put back with 1.6 seconds left in regulation to tie it 67-67.
“We got to overtime and then Courtney really, really stepped up,” Pelphrey said.
Fortson’s three-point basket put Arkansas ahead to stay at 74-71 with 2:18 left in overtime, and his driving basket made it 80-73 with 22 seconds left.
But the Razorbacks left the door open for an Auburn comeback when Rotnei Clarke and Fortson each hit 1 of 2 free throws and Stefan Welsh was called for a violation for moving along the baseline with the ball on an inbounds play.
A 52-foot heave by Auburn’s Frankie Sullivan that would have sent the game into a second overtime bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer.
“I thought it was good when it left my hand,” Sullivan said.
“That’s basketball,” Fortson said. “It either goes in or goes out, and it went out.”
Arkansas played the last 8:09 of regulation and all of overtime without senior forward Michael Washington, who went to the bench after being hit in the left shin.
“We’ve been dealing with adversity all year,” Fortson said. “As long as we stick together, anything can happen, as you saw today.”
Razorbacks freshman forward Marshawn Powell helped pick up the slack inside, finishing with 19 points, including a three-point play that tied the score 65-65 with 58.3 seconds left in regulation before Fortson’s driving basket made it 67-65.
“We’ve won some close games like this,” Auburn Coach Jeff Lebo said. “It’s a fine line.”
Sullivan and Ty Waller led the Tigers (11-12, 2-6) with 18 points each. Lucas Hargrove had 15 points.
“Man, our team competed hard on the road in a tough place to play,” Lebo said. “I feel for the guys.
“They played awfully hard and awfully well - good enough to win.”
Clarke scored 12 points and Welsh added 11 for the Razorbacks, whose last four victories have been by a combined 19 points.
“I am proud of the way the guys conduct themselves, I am proud of their effort,” Pelphrey said. “I can sit here and tell you it’s not great X’s and O’s that are winning these basketball games.
“It’s not because of the wonderful talent we have. We aspire to have that at some point in time, but to this point, we’ve been fortunate, and we have shown toughness and heart.”
Sports, Pages 25 on 02/07/2010