University of Oklahoma Athletics
University of Oklahoma
Arkansas
Turnovers Doom Sooners at Arkansas, 84-74
December 01, 2010 | Men's Basketball
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Video Library | FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas coach John Pelphrey wasn't as concerned about the number of 3-point attempts in Arkansas' first loss as he was about the lack of quality shots.
The Razorbacks heeded their coach's advice on Wednesday, shooting 51 percent from the field in an 84-74 win over Oklahoma.
Arkansas (4-1) was 3 of 21 from behind the arc last week in an overtime loss to Alabama-Birmingham. Against the Sooners, the Razorbacks connected on 5 of 11 3-point attempts in sending Oklahoma (3-4) to its fourth straight defeat.
Rotnei Clarke led the way with 20 points, hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers.
"I know I forced a couple up in a spurt in that last game that were ill-advised and we had some guys shooting shots that weren't the best shot selection at that time," Clarke said. "Coach stressed that in practice when we got back into the gym, and we wanted to make sure we were taking better shots and the right shots at the right time."
Clarke, a junior, now has 200 career 3-pointers - the fastest to reach that mark in school history. He's now 18 behind Lee Mayberry for fourth at Arkansas.
Despite his success from the outside against the Sooners, Clarke also showed a conscious effort to drive the lane. He hit a floater that gave Arkansas a 10-9 lead in the first half and followed that with a drive and quick stop and jumper on the baseline to put the Razorbacks up 12-9.
"He's getting a little bit better at that," Pelphrey said. "I'd still like to see him ball fake a little bit more.
"We want to get him more free throws. That part of his game has gotten better. It's still not where it needs to be."
Jeff Peterson added 15 points for Arkansas, which had 10 players score.
Andrew Fitzgerald led the Sooners with 18 points, while Calvin Newell had 15 and Nick Thompson 13. Leading scorer Cade Davis attempted just eight shots and finished with nine points, and the Sooners committed 22 turnovers in the loss.
"Our inability to keep a guy in front of us and to value the basketball is what did us in today," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. "That's an area where we have to get better. We have to be able to control that and we have to value every possession out there on the floor."
The Sooners' first three losses came last week at the Maui Invitational against Kentucky, Virginia and Chaminade. They averaged 61 points per game in those losses but appeared to have the road offensive woes corrected early against the Razorbacks.
Oklahoma trailed 25-24 midway through the first half after Steven Pledger scored on the break, but Arkansas answered with a 9-0 run to go up 34-24. Glenn Bryant capped the run when he scored and was fouled inside.
Arkansas led by six points at halftime but stretched that lead to as many as 17 in the second half. An 11-2 run put the Razorbacks up 59-42, during which Oklahoma was called for a pair of intentional fouls. Peterson capped the run for Arkansas with a three-point play after he was fouled on a drive.
Oklahoma closed the lead to as few as seven points three times in the closing minutes, the last when Newell scored to cut the lead to 79-72. Each time, the Razorbacks had an answer on the offensive end - the last coming when Clarke hit a floater to push the lead back to 81-72.
