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.