Arkansas' Nick Davis (31) and Kareem Reid (12) try to hold back Orland Santiago of the Division II American-Puerto Rico team during their game in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1997. American University won the game 64-59.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Puerto Rico team scores huge upset

Web posted December 25, 1997

Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Nolan Richardson insisted for two weeks his Arkansas team was not as good as its ranking.

But this? Neither Richardson, nor anyone else, was prepared for this kind of jolt.

In the biggest upset in college basketball this season, Division II American-Puerto Rico defeated No. 12 Arkansas 64-59 on Wednesday in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

``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 beaten by tiny Chaminade of the NAIA.

``I figured we had 1 percent 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 win 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.

Added point guard Orlando Santiago: ``It's the biggest win of my life.''

Angel Paniagua scored 14 of his 15 points and grabbed 10 of his 12 rebounds in the second half for the host school, which sent Arkansas (8-1) to its first loss. Wilfredo Pagan finished with 22 points for American.

American will play the winner of the Michigan-Murray State game in the semifinals on Thursday.

``I'm really sure they'll have a lot of problems playing with us,'' Carlos said.

Nick Davis had 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Razorbacks while Tarik Wallace finished with 13 and Kareem Reid added 12. Derek Hood also had 12, all in the first half.

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

``A 10-point lead is pretty good,'' Richardson said. ``It's the beginning of the second half that killed us. It's a drought like we'd have had last year.''

Arkansas shot 39 percent for the game and was held to 19 points in the second half. American shot 38 percent and made 8 of 23 from behind the arc. Arkansas made only 3 of 23 3-pointers.

``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 slowed the pace.

``We didn't play our usual game,'' Claros said. ``We usually score 90 points a game.''

Instead, the Pirates were patient and made the Razorbacks pay for every mistake.

``They slowed the game, spread us and attacked us,'' Richardson said. ``They made some deep ones and got their heads up. Our guys got down and we never got it turned back around.''

Arkansas made it 53-53 with 7:10 left on Reid's layup. However, Paniagua scored eight points in the final 5:47.

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

The Razorbacks led 40-25 with 1:50 left in the first half before American took the lead with a 23-2 spurt. The Pirates never trailed in the final 16:24.

Arkansas' Pat Bradley kept alive his school record streak by making a 3-pointer for the 60th consecutive game. His only 3-pointer drew the Razorbacks to 60-59 with 1:30 remaining.

``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.''

ARKANSAS (59) -- N.Davis 5-10 3-4 13, Adebayo 3-5 0-1 6, Hood 6-12 0-2 12, Reid 2-10 1-2 5, Wallace 6-15 0-1 13, Bradley 1-6 0-0 3, B.Davis 1-2 0-0 3, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Jennings 1-2 0-0 2, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 4-10 59.

American (64) -- Sanchez 2-6 2-4 8, Chiaramello 2-7 1-7 5, Pagan 8-14 1-3 22, Palz 2-3 1-1 5, Santiago 2-13 0-0 5, Paniagua 7-17 5-6 19, Nesbitt 0-0 0-0 0, Varela 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 10-21 64.

Halftime -- Arkansas 40-30.

3-Point goals -- Arkansas 3-21 (B.Davis 1-2, Wallace 1-6, Bradley 1-6, Whitney 0-3, Reid 0-4), American U P.R. 8-23 (Pagan 5-9, Sanchez 2-4, Santiago 1-7, Palz 0-1, Paniagua 0-1, Varela 0-1). Fouled out -- Hood. Rebounds -- Arkansas 45 (N.Davis 17), American U P.R. 42 (Paniagua 12). Assists -- Arkansas 11 (Hood 4), American U P.R. 15 (Santiago 5). Total fouls -- Arkansas 18, American U P.R. 12. A -- N/A.

Michigan 76

Murray 53

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Maceo Baston and Robert Traylor helped Michigan dominate the paint and beat Murray State in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

Michigan's starting front line outscored Murray State's 41-2 and outrebounded them 30-16. Baston led the Wolverines (8-3) with 17 points, while Traylor scored 10 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Jerod Ward, the third member of the front court, added 14 points and eight rebounds.

De'Teri Mayes led Murray State (9-1) with 19 points and Chad Townsend added 10.

Michigan went on a 9-0 spurt early in the first half and didn't look back. The Wolverines led 32-21 at halftime and enjoyed a double-digit advantage the entire second half.

The Wolverines put the game away with a 10-0 run to take a 52-32 lead with 10:46 remaining.

Michigan's man-to-man defense shackled the Racers in the first half, limiting them to just 18.8 percent shooting (6 of 32). Murray State finished at 26.5 percent (18 of 68) while Michigan made 46.6 percent (27 of 58).

Travis Conlan and Brandon Smith each scored eight points for Michigan. Louis Bullock added six.

Reese Aubrey scored 10 points for Murray State.

MICHIGAN (76) -- Baston 5-7 7-13 17, Ward 5-9 2-2 14, Traylor 4-10 2-3 10, Reid 3-6 0-0 9, Bullock 2-8 2-2 6, Asselin 1-3 0-0 2, Conlan 3-6 1-2 8, Smith 3-4 0-0 8, Oliver 1-1 0-0 2, Vignier 0-1 0-0 0, Szyndlar 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-2 0-0 0, Scott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 14-22 76.

MURRAY STATE (53) -- Murray 0-5 0-0 0, Spencer 0-5 0-2 0, Virgil 1-9 0-0 2, Townsend 2-11 4-6 10, Mayes 7-19 2-2 19, Floyd 1-6 0-0 2, Gay 1-5 0-0 2, Page 1-2 0-0 3, Turner 0-0 1-2 1, Hamilton 2-2 0-0 4, Reese 3-4 4-8 10. Totals 18-68 11-20 53.

Halftime -- Michigan 32-21.

3-Point goals -- Michigan 8-18 (Reid 3-5, Ward 2-2, Smith 2-2, Conlan 1-3, Taylor 0-1, Scott 0-1, Bullock 0-4), Murray St. 6-13 (Mayes 3-5, Townsend 2-5, Page 1-2, Murray 0-1). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Michigan 51 (Traylor 15), Murray St. 41 (Virgil 9). Assists -- Michigan 16 (Reid, Bullock 4), Murray St. 10 (Murray, Spencer 3). Total fouls -- Michigan 20, Murray St. 20. A -- NA.

No. 25 TCU 93

Iowa State 54

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Mike Jones scored 22 points to lead five double-figure scorers as No. 25 Texas Christian beat Iowa State in a first-round game of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

TCU (10-1) led 34-13 midway through the first half and 55-25 at halftime.

Jones made nine of 14 shots, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Lee Mailon scored 18 for the Horned Frogs, Dennis Davis and Renny James each had 14 and Malcolm Johnson added 11.

Iowa State (5-5) was led by Klay Edwards, who scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Brad Johnson added 10 points.

TCU, the nation's top scoring team at 110 points a game, failed to reach 100 for the third consecutive game. But the Horned Frogs played well, shooting 52 percent (39-of-75) from the field. TCU shot 59 percent in the first half in taking command. The Horned Frogs made 5-of-16 3-pointers.

Iowa State made just 38.8 percent (19-of-49) from the field and only 3-of-15 from behind the 3-point line.

The Cyclones were bothered throughout the contest by TCU's full-court defensive pressure. Iowa State committed 32 turnovers to TCU's 19. TCU also won the rebounding battle 41-34.