COLLEGE BASKETBALL / POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS : NCAA SOUTHEAST REGIONAL : Day Has Night in Beating Alabama, 93-70

Todd Day, Arkansas’ slender forward, is one of the best talkers in college basketball. No one talks more trash than Day, who even challenged UNLV forward Larry Johnson to a fight earlier this season.

But Day let his performance do the talking in an NCAA Southeast Regional semifinal game against Alabama on Thursday night.

He scored 31 points as the No. 2 Razorbacks rolled to a 93-70 victory at the Charlotte Coliseum.

Day hit 14 of 24 shots, including two three-pointers, and added a free throw as Arkansas (34-3) moved within one victory of reaching the Final Four for the second consecutive season.

Day, who averaged 20.3 points, had been in a funk, averaging 13 points in his last four games. The slump coincided with the fallout from an incident involving some Arkansas players and a woman in the athletic dorm.

No charges were filed, but “it’s no secret that there were some accusations of assault which were investigated and dismissed,” Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. “I think they used poor judgment, and they’re being disciplined.”

“I haven’t been happy the last couple of weeks,” Day said. “There’s been a lot of negative criticism the last couple of weeks.”

Day said he considered renouncing his final year of eligibility to enter the NBA draft, but added “there’s a 95% chance that I’ll be back next season. It’s just that with all the bad things happening the last couple of weeks, it can make you make a bad decision.”

Day forgot about his troubles while he played against Alabama.

With center Oliver Miller sitting out the last 15:02 of the first half in foul trouble and guard Lee Mayberry failing to make a shot, Arkansas went to Day, and he responded by scoring 15 points in the first 20 minutes as the Razorbacks took a three-point lead.

“This was one of my better games,” Day said. “In the last few games, teams have been on me a lot and leaving Oliver open in the middle. But tonight I was open for the first couple of shots. They went in and that got my confidence up.”

Day added 16 points in the second half, as Arkansas outscored Alabama, 53-23. Mayberry, 0 for 4 in the first half, scored 15 points in the second half.

Alabama, which didn’t seem bothered by Arkansas’ full-court pressure in the first half, seemed to fall apart in the second, with 15 turnovers in the final 20 minutes.

“I thought we handled their pressure well in the first half and then we fell apart, “ Coach Wimp Sanderson said. “They controlled us completely in the last 10 minutes and we got sloppy.”

Although Alabama (23-10) has reached the round of 16 in six of the past 10 seasons, the Tide has been unable to reach the Final Four.

“I don’t feel frustrated,” said forward Melvin Cheetum, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds. “I know a lot of writers will have questions about why we can’t get past the Final 16, but I think we had a good season.”