Puerto Rican Team Suddenly in Hog Heaven

Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson insisted for two weeks his team was not as good as its ranking.

However, Richardson wasn’t prepared for the kind of jolt the Razorbacks received Wednesday in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic in San Juan.

In the biggest upset in college basketball this season, Division II American of Puerto Rico defeated previously unbeaten No. 12 Arkansas, 64-59.

“It was a terrible performance by our team,” Richardson said. “Our execution was terrible. I can’t ever remember losing to a Division II school.”

The upset was reminiscent of a 1982 Christmas tournament in Hawaii when a No. 1 Virginia team led by Ralph Sampson was defeated by tiny Chaminade of the NAIA.

“I figured we had 1% chance of winning,” American Coach Pep Claros said. “I knew the difference might be 40 or 50 points. But you play five on five for 40 minutes and you never know what might happen.”

American (6-6) is a branch of American University in Washington. Its only previous victory of note this season was an 11-point victory over Alabama.

American’s Angel Sanchez likened the victory to an early Christmas present.

“I was dreaming of this game since before the season began,” he said.

Angel Paniagua had 14 of his 15 points and 10 of his 12 rebounds in the second half for American, which also got 22 points from Wilfredo Pagan.

Arkansas (8-1) led by 16 points midway through the first half and was ahead 40-30 at halftime.

The Razorbacks shot miserably in the second half in scoring only 19 points. They shot 39% for the game and made only three of 23 three-point attempts.

“We’d walk it down, set it up and shoot a jumper,” Richardson said. “The problem was, nobody could make a shot. If we don’t shoot it, we’re not very good.”

Momentum shifted when Claros had his team slow the pace.

“We didn’t play our usual game,” Claros said. “We usually score 90 points a game.”

With 31 seconds to go, Arkansas had a chance to take the lead but Kareem Reid threw the ball away after driving to the basket. Paniagua made a layup and two free throws to seal the victory.

“I’m sure our kids were excited about being in Puerto Rico and having a good time,” Richardson said. “But now they have two choices. They can stay down or they can get their heads in a better position.”

In other games in the Puerto Rico tournament:

No. 19 Syracuse 67, Saint Louis 64--Todd Burgan had a season-high 21 points, including three free throws in the final 21 seconds, as the Orangemen (10-0) held off the Billikens (8-2).

Burgan actually gave Saint Louis a chance to tie the score with 16 seconds left by throwing away an inbounds pass. John Redden, a 44% free-throw shooter, was fouled after coming up with the ball but missed both of his attempts.

Burgan made one of two free throws after being fouled with 13 seconds left and Saint Louis was unable to get off a three-point shot as time ran out.

Saint Louis freshman Larry Hughes matched his season average of 21 points.

No. 25 Texas Christian 93, Iowa State 54--Mike Jones had 22 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Horned Frogs (10-1).

TCU, the nation’s top-scoring team at 110 points a game, led 34-13 midway through the first half and 55-25 at halftime but failed to reach 100 points for the third consecutive game. The Horned Frogs shot 52%, with Jones making nine of his 14 shots.

Iowa State (5-5) was led by Klay Edwards, who scored 12 points on six-of-nine shooting.

Michigan 76, Murray State 53--The inside play of Maceo Baston, Robert Traylor and Jerod Ward helped the Wolverines (8-3) end the Racers’ winning streak at nine games. Murray State (9-1) shot 26%.

Michigan’s starting front line outscored Murray State’s, 41-2, and had a 30-16 edge in rebounding. Baston led the Wolverines with 17 points, Traylor had 10 points and 15 rebounds and Ward had 14 points and eight rebounds.

Michigan will play American today.