Florida Gators
Arkansas
Gator men lose in OT to Arkansas 94-92
Saturday, January 26, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Justin Hamilton, who returned to the Gator lineup after missing two games with a shoulder injury, missed a pair of free throws with :11 left in regulation after Pargo's game-tying trey. But he also gave the Gators an 85-83 lead in overtime with a three-pointer and tied the game 92-92 with a basket with :16 left in the extra session.
The Gators struggled from the free throw line, missing 18 foul shots. Florida was shooting 76 percent from the free throw line in the SEC this season.
"We got to the free throw line 41 times in the game," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "When you're shooting 45 percent from the field, you should put yourself in position to win."
As expected, the Gators had a huge rebounding edge 51-31.
Brett Nelson scored 15 of his team-high 23 points in the first half. The Gators used an 11-2 run to build a 34-25 lead before Arkansas came back to trail by only two points, 42-40, at the half.
The Gators went back up by eight points, 52-44, with an 8-0 run early in the second half. The Gators had a 66-59 lead with less than nine minutes to play, but Pargo converted a three-point play to tie the game 74-74 with 4:50 to go in the game.
Udonis Haslem, who was struggling from the free throw line, made 4-of-4 in the final minute to tie the game up 81-81 with 35 seconds left in regulation. Haslem finished with his ninth double-double of the season (19 points, 13 rebounds) before fouling out with 1:58 to go in overtime.
Matt Bonner scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Hamilton finished with 14 points, five assists and five steals. Orien Greene rounded out the double figure scoring with 13 points.
Donovan says it a was great college basketball game. "It was two teams playing transition basketball and going up and down the floor," Donovan said. "They needed to make some buckets late. We had a three-point lead and Pargo made a very difficult shot. You've got to give him credit. We had no answers for him."
Pargo was deadly from beyond the arc, hitting 7-of-8 three-pointers. He also made all eight of his free throws.
With the victory, the Razorbacks ended a four-game losing streak and are now 11-8 overall and 3-4 in the SEC.
The Gators, who had a 13-game winning streak vs. SEC West opponents snapped, are now 15-3 with a 4-2 league mark. Florida has now lost back-to-back games for just the third time in three seasons.
The Gators will host Kentucky Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. ET.
