Time was slipping away on the chance for Texas and Coach Tom Penders to beat Arkansas.
The Longhorns, 0-7 against Nolan Richardson since Penders took over as coach, beat the third-ranked Razorbacks 99-86 Sunday, spoiling their last regular-season Southwest Conference game before they move to the Southeastern Conference next season."It was sad to be playing here for the last time," Richardson said. "I've promoted the Southwest Conference in basketball. The higher-ups make decisions about where we go."
Texas (20-7) turned a 61-47 deficit in the second half into a 16-point lead, holding Arkansas (28-3) to 23.7 percent shooting after halftime.
The rally before a sellout crowd of 16,231 "was a great win for us and for our program," Penders said. The Longhorns recorded their third consecutive season of at least 20 victories, a school record.
Benford Williams scored 22 points for Texas despite playing 23 minutes because of foul trouble. Joey Wright and Locksley Collie each added 19.
Arkansas, which had previously lost only to UNLV and Arizona and was 15-0 in SWC play, was led by Todd Day with 18 points. Only Arkansas in 1977 and Houston in 1983 have gone through the conference undefeated.
"The loss really doesn't hurt the guys who are not from Texas," Day said.
In Saturday games, No. 1 UNLV beat Cal-Fullerton 104-83, No. 5 Indiana beat Wisconsin 74-61, No. 7 Arizona lost to Oregon 62-58, No. 9 Utah beat Brigham Young 72-71 in overtime, No. 11 New Mexico State beat Fresno State 105-80, Iowa State beat No. 12 Oklahoma State 68-67, No. 13 Kentucky beat Auburn 114-93, Tulane beat No. 14 Southern Mississippi 82-65 and DePaul beat No. 17 St. John's 79-68.
Also, No. 23 Mississippi State beat No. 18 Lousiana State 76-73, No. 19 East Tennessee State beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 104-71 in the Southern Conference semifinals, No. 20 Seton Hall beat Boston College 81-74, No. 21 Princeton beat Dartmouth 56-49, Connecticut beat No. 22 Pittsburgh 78-68, No. 24 Alabama beat Tennessee 96-88, and Maryland beat No. 25 Virginia in overtime.
Sunday's games
No. 2 Ohio St. 65, Michigan St. 64
Ohio State clinched at least a share of its first Big Ten title in 20 years as Jamaal Brown hit the second of two free throws with one second left.
The victory was the eighth in a row for Ohio State (25-1) since its only loss of the season at Michigan State. The Buckeyes and Indiana each have two games remaining.
No. 8 Duke 83, No. 4 N. Carolina 77
Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley each scored 18 points as Duke won at North Carolina to win the ACC regular-season title.
The Blue Devils (25-6) led by 19 points with 12 minutes to go before the Tar Heels (22-5) got within nine. Duke had just one field goal over the final eight minutes, but made 10 of 13 free throws in the last 4:29.
No. 6 Syracuse 62, Georgetown 58
Syracuse (26-4), which already had clinched the Big East, got 21 points from Billy Owens, including two free throws with 4.3 seconds left to secure the victory over Georgetown.
The Hoyas (16-11) lost their fourth straight Big East game in front of the largest on-campus crowd in NCAA history, 33,048 in the Carrier Dome.
Alonzo Mourning had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Georgetown, whose 13th straight trip to the NCAA tournament is in jeopardy.
No. 15 Nebraska 85,
No. 10 Kansas 75
Tony Farmer scored 18 points as Nebraska knocked Kansas into a tie for the Big Eight title.
After trailing by nine at halftime, Kansas (21-6) closed to 47-45 with 15:19 remaining. But Kansas missed eight straight free throws in a five-minute stretch, during which Nebraska (24-6) hit seven of eight for a 77-71 lead.
Washington 86, No. 16 UCLA 68
Dion Brown scored 28 points and had six dunks as Pac-10 cellar-dweller Washington (14-12 overall, 5-11 Pac-10) handed the league title and automatic NCAA tournament berth to Arizona by thrashing the Bruins (21-8, 9-7).
No. 19 E. Tennessee 101,
Appalachian 82
Keith Jennings scored 15 of his 31 points in the final 81/2 minutes as East Tennessee (28-4) won its third straight Southern Conference title and an automatic NCAA tournament berth.