Fresh off a 30-point victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson would have you believe his Razorbacks deserve sympathy.
The Razorbacks rolled to a 94-64 conquest of Holy Cross on Thursday, then turned their attention to St. John's."They're so strong and so physical," Richardson said of the Redmen, "I'm just hoping my little raggly . . . little runt basketball team will be able to give them a game."
St. John's, an 85-67 winner over Texas Tech, will face a team of Arkansas "runts" that includes 6-foot-7, 245-pound Corliss Williamson and 6-9, 270-pound Dwight Stewart.
Richardson claimed many of his players actually are shorter than their listed heights, and that he was concerned because the Redmen feature 6-11, 250-pound Shawnelle Scott in the middle.
Rhode Island was a 74-68 winner over Purdue and top-seeded North Carolina pulled away for an 85-65 victory over No. 16 seed East Carolina.
St. John's 85, Texas Tech 67
David Cain had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and the fifth-seeded Redmen (19-10) used a 22-4 run in the second half to pull away. Twelfth-seeded Texas Tech (18-12) was outrebounded 51-35.
Arkansas 94, Holy Cross 64
The fourth-seeded Razorbacks (21-8) used runs of 11-0 and 10-0 in the game's first 121/2 minutes to pull away early from Holy Cross (23-7).
Rhode Island 74, Purdue 68
Glen Robinson, the Big Ten scoring leader, had 36 points but got little help from his Purdue (18-10) teammates. Carlos Cofield had seven points in a 19-9 run that lifted Rhode Island (19-10) from a 43-42 deficit to a 61-52 lead.
North Carolina 85, East Carolina 65
Eric Montross scored 17 points as North Carolina (29-4) gave Dean Smith a record 50th NCAA tournament victory. Phelps, injured in the ACC semifinals, returned and played 15 minutes, scoring six points.