Richardson Stands Tall After His Razorbacks Fall

Nolan Richardson is still the coach at Arkansas, but he is speaking like a man who may be on the verge of a career change.

As a report of Richardson’s possible departure circulated, Mississippi State made a late spurt to defeat the Razorbacks, 89-83, Wednesday night at Starkville, Miss.

After the game, Richardson spoke calmly about his legacy in Fayetteville, which includes a national championship in 1994.

“So what can you take away from me?� Richardson asked. “I’ve won everything there is to win. Name me coaches that can say that.

“I tell my players, ‘Don’t fret for me baby.’ If I get to leave the University of Arkansas, I graduated--and I did it my way.�

Mario Austin had 30 points for Mississippi State (22-7, 9-6 Southeastern Conference), which has won four in a row.

Jannero Pargo matched his season-high with 35 points for the Razorbacks (13-14, 5-10).

There was a report before the game that Richardson and the university would agree to a $3 million buyout of the remaining six years of his $1.03 million-a-year contract.

In 17 seasons with the Razorbacks, Richardson is 389-169.

TOP 25

Reece Gaines scored 26 points as Louisville earned its biggest victory under Rick Pitino with a 74-71 upset of No. 4 Cincinnati at Louisville, Ky.

Ellis Myles had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Louisville (16-11, 7-8 Conference USA).

“This was a wonderful win for our players,� Pitino said. “They put in countless hours to get to a night like tonight.�

The Bearcats (26-3, 13-2) had a six-game winning streak stopped and blew a chance to secure their seventh consecutive regular-season Conference USA title outright. They clinched at least a tie after No. 9 Marquette’s loss Tuesday night at East Carolina.

“Why would you not come to play? I don’t know. We were playing for a conference championship and a seed in the NCAA tournament,� Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins said.

No. 1 Kansas 103, Kansas State 68--Kirk Hinrich had 24 points at Lawrence, Kan., as the Jayhawks (26-2, 15-0 in the Big 12) scored their most points ever against the Wildcats (11-15, 5-10).

No. 2 Maryland 96, Florida State 63--Juan Dixon scored 25 points and the Terrapins (24-3, 14-1) clinched at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a victory against the Seminoles (11-15, 4-11) at Tallahassee, Fla.

No. 6 Alabama 73, Auburn 68--Erwin Dudley had 25 points and 13 rebounds and the Crimson Tide (24-5, 12-3 in Southeastern Conference) made eight consecutive free throws in the final minute to edge the Tigers (12-14, 4-11) at Tuscaloosa, Ala. The victory enabled Alabama to win the SEC title outright.

Vanderbilt 86, No. 11 Kentucky 73--Reserve Brendan Plavich scored 20 points as the Commodores (16-12, 6-9 in the SEC) ended an 18-game losing streak to the Wildcats (19-8, 9-6) at Nashville, Tenn.

No. 16 Georgia 82, South Carolina 75--Rashad Wright made a tying three-point basket with 5.4 seconds left to get the Bulldogs (21-7, 10-5 in SEC) to overtime, then Steve Thomas scored six points to give them a victory against the Gamecocks (16-12, 6-9) at Athens, Ga.

Georgia Tech 90, No. 24 Wake Forest 77--B.J. Elder scored 23 of his career-high 25 points in the second half and Tony Akins added 19 as the Yellow Jackets (14-15, 6-9 in ACC) upended the Demon Deacons (18-11, 8-7) at Atlanta.

OTHER GAMES

Kirk Penney and Devin Harris scored 21 points each as Wisconsin (18-11, 11-5) clinched at least a share of its first Big Ten Conference title in 55 years with a 74-54 victory against Michigan (10-16, 5-10) at Madison, Wis. The Badgers also secured the No. 1 seeding in the Big Ten tournament.... David Dixon scored 14 points to help Washington (11-17, 5-13) defeat Washington State, 82-75, at Seattle. The win earned the Huskies a spot in the Pac-10 tournament. The Cougars are 5-21 and 1-17.