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Hogs' defense chomps down on Gators

Arkansas' Daniel Gafford (10) collides with Florida's Chris Chiozza (11) during an SEC Tournament game Friday, March 9, 2018, in St. Louis.
Arkansas' Daniel Gafford (10) collides with Florida's Chris Chiozza (11) during an SEC Tournament game Friday, March 9, 2018, in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS -- The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville needed a live-or-die defensive effort to take out the No. 3 seed Florida Gators on Friday in the SEC Tournament.

It didn't happen right away for the No. 6 Razorbacks.

It took several minutes before Mike Anderson sent a reminder to his players that they are only as good as their defense. When he did, it became a sweaty, gasping defensive brawl.

Every shot was contested, and so was nearly every dribble. The shot clock reverberated as both teams ran out of time on big possessions.

With 7:56 to play, the Razorbacks led 55-48 and were showing no signs of playing their second game in 24 hours. They seemed to be growing stronger with every minute.

The Hogs' fun was just beginning as the 16-2 run continued and the lead swelled to 62-48 with 5:55 left, forcing Florida to take a much-needed timeout. The Gators seemed to have zero answers for what Arkansas was throwing at them on every possession.

Arkansas' defense was so tough that Florida couldn't buy a bucket at a discount hardware store.

They missed inside and out before finally getting a pair of free throws and then a three. But the Hogs were dominating everything, including the boards where Daniel Gafford produced a rim-ringing dunk with 3:25 to play. With 2:49 left and going into a timeout, the Hogs led 66-55.

Arkansas had nine more rebounds and was shooting 52 percent from the field in the second half, and the Gators were just 9 of 25 from the floor (36 percent). The Gators' dejected faces in that huddle hinted there was no magic to come.

Even head Coach Mike White was sitting, and not even a shot-clock violation on Arkansas with 2:28 to play seemed to help. Even though a three-point play with 2:18 left cut it to 66-58, the Hogs were not panicking.

Jaylen Barford scored -- he had 27 points -- and Florida put up an air ball, which kicked off the free-throw shooting contest.

The Hogs made enough free throws to survive 80-72 and advance to play No. 2 seed Tennessee at 2:30 p.m. today.

Arkansas trailed for the first 19:05, but with 4:51 to play in the first half the Gators hit a wall -- a big part of it because Arkansas' perimeter defense had stepped up big time after a slow start.

Florida hit 6 of its first 10 threes, but the Hogs went to work and the Gators missed their next 5 and got called for shot-clock violations three times.

The Razorbacks' offense feeds off its defense, seemingly gaining confidence with every stop and extra ego every time the shot clock went off. They outscored the Gators 8-0 in the last four minutes of the half and went into intermission leading 30-29.

At one point Florida was hitting 60 percent of its shots, but at the break it was down to 44 percent. While Arkansas was only 40 percent, the Hogs had seven more shots. That's what Mike Anderson likes: Field goals come from attempts.

Earlier Friday, Alabama and Auburn fans demonstrated they would show up if the two schools were playing a game of Minecraft. When No. 1 seed Auburn went down to No. 9 seed Alabama, there was a lot of that old burn.

The most exciting thing though, as Bama won going away 81-63, might have been after the game when Auburn head Coach Bruce Pearl and the Crimson Tide strength coach -- a hulking dude who wouldn't lose a fight with any basketball coach -- accidentally bumped into each other. Pearl lost his cool.

Not enough to confront the guy, as he ran his mouth while two older security guys led him off the court.

Sports on 03/10/2018

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