Arkansas' 65-58 win over LSU was not an upset, just further proof that anything can happen in the SEC in any given game.
It was another illustration that sometimes the Razorbacks best offense is its defense.
With 9:01 to play LSU had taken a 56-48 lead and interim head coach Keith Smart told his team during a time out to take a deep breath.
When they retook the court it was with a defensive vengeance.
LSU would finish the game 1-9 shooting _ every shot and every dribble was contested by the Razorbacks _ and suffer six turnovers.
The team that wasn't breathless, Arkansas when on a 17-2 run and and came away with a well-earned win because of its defense.
Last season a similar thing happened in January when the Razorbacks finally started listening to head coach Eric Musselman about thinking defense first.
Now the Razorbacks come home to face 10-6 South Carolina and 15-2 Texas A&M, go to 9-7 Ole Miss, play host to 13-3 West Virginia and go to 5-12 Georgia.
Are all of those winnable? Absolutely, it is the wild and crazy SEC, but it mostly will depend on one thing, how hard the Razorbacks play on defense.
(stars)
In 2018, Justice Hill led Little Rock Christian to a state championship in football.
As the quarterback he passed for 3,084 yards and 37 touchdowns, but the son of Fitz and Cynthia Hill, graduates of Ouachita Baptist where Fitz excelled at receiver for the Tigers, had a passion for basketball.
Now he's trying to lead Murray State to the Ohio Valley Conference championship.
Last Saturday again Belmont, which was also undefeated in league play, Hill scored 36 points to lead the Racers to an 82-60 win.
Hill hit eight of 11 three-pointers .
He has started all 16 games, averaging more than 28 minutes per game, and is averaging 13.9 points per game, hitting 46% of his threes.
The Racers have won four consecutive conference games since a 71-58 loss to Auburn, which is 5-0 in SEC play and 16-1 overall.
The University of Arkansas-Little Rock becomes a member of the Ohio Valley Conference next season.
Fitz Hill is the former head football coach at San Jose State and assistant coach at the University of Arkansas. He also served in Desert Storm during the Gulf War.
Justice Hill is a sophomore.
(stars)
In one NFL playoff game, the referees literally blew a call and in another they were first accused of getting in the way of a final play and time running out by a TV announcer.
In the first game, the Las Vegas Raiders were cheated when Cincinnati's Joe Burrow was rolling out and appeared to step out of bounds. A whistle blew.
Burrow then threw a touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd.
After review, it was determined the whistle was after the play, which everyone watching and in the stadium knew was wrong.
After the game the NFL admitted the play should have stopped before the pass because a whistle instantly stops the play.
The Raiders lost that game on Saturday 26-19. That officiating crew is not expected to work any more this season.
On Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys were trailing the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 with 14 seconds to play when quarterback Dak Prescott took off with the ball.
After he was tackled, the Cowboys rushed to the line of scrimmage. In his haste, Prescott handed the ball to the center and the Cowboys lined up to spike the ball and stop the clock.
Only umpire Ramon George elbowed his way through the line, grabbed the ball and spotted it and time ran out before the Cowboys could snap it.
The ball has to be spotted on the line of scrimmage by the umpire. It is a rule.