NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Arkansas, Duke Feel Mile High : Midwest Regional: Razorbacks’ pressure defense and one scoring burst make the difference as Texas rally falls short, 88-85.

It starts near midcourt with the long arms of Todd Day and the quick feet of Arlyn Bowers and ends underneath the basket, where 6-foot-9, 235-pound Mario Credit or 6-9, 270-pound Oliver Miller--the dreaded “Big O”--are waiting.

Meet Arkansas’ pressure defense, the monster that ate Texas Saturday in the Midwest Regional final.

Forcing 22 turnovers and perhaps an equal number of hurried shots--including a three-point try by Texas star Travis Mays that would have tied the game with 17 seconds remaining--the Razorbacks won this meeting of Southwest Conference teams, 88-85, to advance to the Final Four. Arkansas will meet Duke in the national semifinals in Denver.

It was not the typical Arkansas victory, in which the young and talented Razorbacks--Coach Nolan Richardson likes to call them a time bomb waiting to go off--use one burst to put their opponent away.

Oh, they went off against Texas, all right, turning a four-point lead with 18:19 left in the second half into a 16-point cushion with 12:04 remaining. “I was thinking blowout,” Credit said.

But the Razorbacks’ inability to shoot free shows (18 for 29 in the second half) allowed Texas, the 10th-seeded team in the Midwest, to get back in the game, and only Mays’ errant three-point attempt followed by two free throws by Arkansas’ Ron Huery with 16 seconds left kept the time bomb from being an exploding cigar.

The victory puts Arkansas (30-4), the Midwest’s fourth-seeded team, into the Final Four for the first time since 1978, when Eddie Sutton was building the program into a national force, and marks the first time that Richardson has taken a team there.

For Richardson, who came to Arkansas five years ago, the sweetness of the moment will be tempered by memories of the past. His first two teams at Arkansas struggled, bringing him heavy criticism from fans spoiled by Sutton, and his life was changed forever in 1987 when his daughter, Yvonne, died after a two-year fight with leukemia.

Asked what his first thoughts were after earning the Final Four trip, Richardson said: “Wishing that a certain young girl were here. ‘Yvonne, we got one for you, baby, and we’re going to get some more.’ ”

Arkansas’ saving grace Saturday at Reunion Arena was its defense. In addition to forcing the 22 turnovers, the Razorbacks’ pressure caused Texas to shoot 42%. The Longhorns’ BMW trio--senior guards Lance Blanks, Joey Wright and Mays--shot a combined 15 of 42 from the floor.

“They did a great job of shutting down the passing lanes,” said Texas Coach Tom Penders, whose teams are 0-6 against Arkansas in his two seasons at Texas. “They have great athletes, a great defensive team. They talk a lot about their offense, but every kid on that floor plays defense.”

The Razorbacks were able to keep Texas’ gunners from finding their rhythm on the perimeter. “We had them backing up,” Credit said. “At first, they were taking college threes. Then we had them shooting NBA threes. That was a different aspect for them.”

Day, Arkansas’ 6-7 sophomore, had a sub-par offensive game--12 points on five-of-17 shooting--but afterward he was pointing proudly to his four steals and six rebounds.

“In our pressure defense, they couldn’t shoot the three-pointer,” he said. “They had to shoot on the move. They weren’t able to come up court and set up. We were all over them from Day 1.”

And when the Longhorns were able to solve Arkansas’ zone trap, they had to contend with Credit or Miller or both.

“Our front line of defense is one thing,” Richardson said. “But when you get to the Big O, you pay the price. The Big O is sitting back there waiting, and he likes to sit back there and wait, take chances. It’s not the rebounds he gets. It’s the intimidating force, like ‘Oh, my God, him again.’ ”

Offensively, the Razorbacks were able to pound the ball inside against the smaller Longhorns. Credit scored 14 points. Miller, a sophomore who seems to be carrying about 15 pounds of baby fat, came off the bench to contribute nine points, all in the second half, to go with his nine rebounds and two blocks. But his five-for-11 free-throw shooting was almost enough to wipe out all the good things he did.

Texas (24-9), down by as many as nine points in the first half and seven at the intermission, pulled to within four on Mays’ three-pointer 1:41 into the second half.

At that point, Arkansas suffered a blow. Forward Lenzie Howell, whose play in the NCAA tournament has been nothing short of magnificent, took an elbow in the eye and had to sit down because of blurred vision.

But Howell’s loss didn’t turn out to be Texas’ gain. The Razorbacks kicked their game into a higher gear, going on a 15-5 run to gain a 14-point lead with 15:11 remaining.

Sophomore point guard Lee Mayberry, who was playing despite a throat infection (“I didn’t get any sleep last night listening to Lee cough,” said Day, his roommate), scored nine of those points, half his total for the game.

Texas quickly got back to within 10, but then Arkansas got another spurt to get its 16-point lead.

“We’re talking about balance with our basketball team,” Richardson said. “When Lenzie went out, Mayberry took over. We’ve always got somebody who will step up. That’s balance. And any time you play with balance, it’s difficult to key on one individual. That’s what our team is about, balance.”

Or as Penders put it: “You think you’ve got one hole covered, and then water’s spurting out over here. They are really a difficult team to match up with.”

Still, the Longhorns, who came back from a 16-point deficit in the second half to defeat Xavier in the Midwest semifinals, didn’t roll over.

When Texas came back to make it a four-point game with 1:37 remaining, Howell (21 points, nine rebounds) answered by hitting two free throws and putting back a miss by Day to get the Razorbacks’ lead to eight with 1:05 to play. But Locksley Collie scored on a layup for Texas, and, after Howell missed the front end of a one-ane-one opportunity, Blanks stuck a three-pointer--three-point game, 34 seconds remaining.

Fouled with 31 seconds left, Day blew another one-and-one chance, and so Texas had a chance to tie. Day saved the Razorbacks by swooping in to block Wright’s drive, but Texas kept possession. Then, with 17 seconds left, Mays shot from at least six feet beyond the three-point line.

“I think he was a little too far out,” Day said. “When I saw him take that shot, I didn’t think he’d make it.”

He didn’t, the ball banging off the front of the rim.

“The shot felt good,” said Mays, the SWC’s all-time leading scorer. “It was just a little short.”

In the scramble for the rebound, Mays fouled Huery, and the Arkansas forward made both ends of the one-and-one. And when Wright missed two free throws at the other end with 10 seconds remaining, Texas was out of time and Arkansas was on its way to Denver.