Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Down by 10, the Hoyas battled and battled to stay in the game. Nat Burton made a brilliant play, beating both the shot clock and the game clock to avoid overtime and secure the win for Craig Esherick.

But the only opinion that mattered was from the officials and they all agreed that the basket counts.

Burton's driving layup at the buzzer survived an instant-replay review and gave Georgetown a thrilling 63-61 victory over Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

"I was nervous because I thought I got the ball off after the buzzer," Burton said. "But I guess I did."

With the score tied at 61, Georgetown took possession with 35.8 seconds left. The Hoyas ran down the 35-second clock and Burton ended up with the ball with about 10 seconds left.

"All I thought about was getting the ball in the basket," Burton said. "I saw Kevin (Braswell) come up, but I waved him off so I went to the basket with my left hand. If I miss that shot, I'm in big trouble."

He didn't.

Burton drove past Brandon Dean down the left side of the lane and flipped up a shot with his left hand almost simultaneous with the shot-clock horn.


	Victor Samnick, left, added eight points and six rebounds for Georgetown, who upset Arkansas in its NCAA tourney opener.

"The floor opened up and he went to his basket with his left hand," Braswell said. "I saw the ball go through the net as time expired."

Burton's teammates mobbed him under the basket. But the celebration was cut short when the officials went to the TV replay to review the play.

"I didn't even think about the shot clock until Nolan raised it," Georgetown coach Craig Esherick said. "I still don't know if he got the ball off on time. But I guess he did, because the referees said so."

After about a minute break, an announcement was made that the basket counted.

"We looked to see if it was a shot-clock violation. It was not," umpire Ted Hillary said in a statement. "The ball was out of his hand. ... Time had expired before the ball went through the net."

The Georgetown players raised their arms and yelled as they sprinted to their locker room.

Richardson walked calmly to halfcourt as his players dejectedly walked to the locker room. Richardson asked for an explanation from the officials, but they jogged past him.

Richardson, who didn't see a replay, stayed on the floor for a few minutes before walking away, shoulders slumped and eyes down.

"I hope and pray it was the right call," he said. "Even if it wasn't there's nothing we can do about it."

It was a fitting end to a back-and-forth half that was delayed about 10 minutes at the start because of a malfunction in the horn.

After an electrical circuit apparently tripped, the horn wouldn't stop blaring for about five minutes. Officials started the second half by using hand-held aerosol air horns, signaling when a player was making a substitution.

By the end, the horn was working, and the 10th-seeded Hoyas (24-7) narrowly beat it to advance to play No. 15-seeded Hampton, which shocked Iowa State on Thursday.

Braswell led Georgetown with 12 points. Anthony Perry and Mike Sweetney added 10 apiece.

Joe Johnson scored 14 to lead seventh-seeded Arkansas (20-11), including a game-tying basket with 35.8 seconds left. Carl Baker added 12.

It was a bruising, physical contest that featured stifling defense, players being thrown to the floor and a couple of near-altercations.

There were 36 fouls as both teams struggled to get any rhythm going offensively.

Arkansas used a full-court press after made shots, deadballs and even misses, forcing Georgetown into 23 turnovers and making the Hoyas waste valuable time just trying to cross halfcourt.

Georgetown countered with a gigantic frontline that altered shots nearly every time the Razorbacks came into the lane. The Hoyas also controlled the backboards, outrebounding the Razorbacks 47-35, including 28-12 in the second half.

The Razorbacks, who led by seven early in the second half, went 3:50 without scoring as the Hoyas rallied to tie it at 52 behind the inside play of Ruben Boumtje Boumtje and Sweetney.

Baker then hit a 3-pointer to put Arkansas up by three with 7:19 to play, but Perry answered with a 3 of his own 20 seconds later. The teams then traded baskets until Burton's game-winner.

"I didn't think he'd make it," Johnson said. "He made a tough shot."

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Georgetown Clubhouse

Arkansas Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Nate Burton knew the Hoyas had the play to beat Arkansas at the buzzer.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

Kevin Braswell knew Nate Burton's shot was good.
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