COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Arkansas Surprises No. 9 Arizona

Nolan Richardson’s teams have won some big games during his eight years as Arkansas’ coach, but none was as important to Richardson as Sunday’s 86-80 victory over No. 9 Arizona at Tucson.

“To me, this is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, wins . . . simply because we were an unknown,” Richardson said. “I didn’t know if we had the squad to win here. We didn’t have an identity. But now I think we’ve changed the expectations of some people.”

The second victory by Arkansas (3-0) over a Top 10 opponent ended Arizona’s 32-game home winning streak against nonconference teams. The Razorbacks opened at home Wednesday with an 81-76 victory over No. 8 Memphis State.

Robert Shepherd led the Razorbacks’ pressure defense and freshman Scotty Thurman scored 28 points against Arizona.

Shepherd had nine of the Razorbacks’ 15 steals and helped force Arizona (0-1) into 23 turnovers, which Arkansas turned into 29 points.

Tennessee 70, No. 8 Memphis State 59--The Volunteers went on a 17-5 run during the final six minutes for the victory at Knoxville, Tenn.

Allan Houston scored 12 of his 20 points during the second half for Tennessee (3-1).

Anfernee Hardaway finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Memphis State (0-2).

Notre Dame 76, Evansville 70--Malik Russell scored the go-ahead basket with 1:02 to play then drew an offensive foul that helped seal the victory at South Bend, Ind.

Ryan Hoover scored 21 points for Notre Dame (2-0). Evansville is 1-1.