COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Definitely Knowing a Scuffle

The fight began with 3:23 remaining before halftime. You might have missed it when the quake coverage pre-empted the Arkansas-Georgetown basketball coverage. Anyway, until the melee, it had been a close and excellent contest, with Arkansas ahead on the judges’ cards by a point. After that, well, it was not much of a contest at all.

A nasty little altercation interrupted Sunday’s NCAA Midwest Regional nightcap, with players from both sides being ejected for leaving the bench to participate. Tournament favorite Arkansas eventually won, 85-73, overcoming its loss of a valuable player a lot more easily than Georgetown did.

Here’s the blow-by-blow:

With Arkansas ahead, 34-33, frisky Georgetown forward Robert Churchwell, a 6-foot-6 senior from South Bend, Ind., who apparently is familiar with good tackling, wrapped his arms around 6-4 guard Clint McDaniel of the Razorbacks in the lane, 10 feet from the basket, bearhugging him all the way to the paint.

McDaniel didn’t care for this much. First, whipping his left elbow behind him toward Churchwell’s steeple, then rising and aiming a swift kick that nearly caught the Georgetown player right in the Hoyas, McDaniel prompted what is commonly known in other sports as a bench-clearing brawl. Among those clearing said bench were 6-8 junior Don Reid from Georgetown and 6-6 sophomore Scotty Thurman from Arkansas, although they were hardly the only ones.

They were the ones punished, though. Reid and Thurman, both starters, were banished to the dressing room by officials Tim Higgins and Dick Paparo. Instant replay--CBS showed it at least eight times--revealed that McDaniel clearly over-reacted to his opponent’s action, but Paparo said he and Higgins never needed a replay, putting it this way: “We felt we had definite knowledge in the matter.”

McDaniel was slapped with a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Yet he and Churchwell were permitted to remain in the game. And in choosing which of the many players who left the bench would be ejected, Higgins said, “We had definite knowledge of the two players we could pick up who came on the floor,” definite knowledge becoming a key factor in this game.

What Georgetown Coach John Thompson definitely knew was that while both he and counterpart Nolan Richardson had lost important players, the Arkansas coach could afford to more. Or, as TV analyst Greg Kelser vividly observed: “Losing Thurman hurt Arkansas a little, but losing Reid left Georgetown naked.”

An entire NCAA game, and Georgetown’s season, could have turned on this one incident. Arkansas immediately took charge of the game and Georgetown seemed to lose its defensive edge and its focus.

Thompson was angrier, though, at the outcry from TV sportscasters--one in particular, considerably shorter than Kelser--who called for much stronger action against the players. Thompson said: “It’s easy for (a naughty word) to sit up there in their Eiffel (sic) Towers and say which players should get kicked out of games. Billy (Packer) should know better. He played the game himself.”

His Hoya players put the blame more on the Razorbacks.

“I’m not surprised by their tactics,” guard Joey Brown said.

Churchwell, in some ways the instigator, said: “There was nothing to it. It was an intense point of the game and emotions were flying high. There was no reason for anybody to be tossed. It was just high emotions.”

It can cost you a game, high emotion. We have definite knowledge of this.

In other definite knowledge:

Making Clint’s Day: This Clint McDaniel who swung an elbow at a Georgetown player, then gave him a vicious kick? At the University of Arkansas, McDaniel majors in criminal justice.

Yeah? So Did Bruce Lee: Speaking of McDaniel prior to this tournament, Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson observed: “He has especially quick hands and feet.”

Mr. Smith Goes On: Tulsa’s next tournament trip has become Tubby Does Dallas.

Attention, Conventions: A reminder that Mr. Dean Smith, Mr. John Thompson, Mr. Eddie Sutton and Mr. Rick Pitino are now available for speaking engagements at popular prices.

Better Redhead Than Deadhead: Giving credit where credit is due, let it be said that Bill Walton stuck his neck out in criticizing UCLA, took some heat for criticizing UCLA and turned out to be totally accurate in criticizing UCLA. Off the wall. Right on target. Nothing but net.

One Million Years, B.C.: Boston College lost to Northwestern in football, but defeated North Carolina in basketball. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what is known in collegiate athletics as a full year.

That Guy! Missouri is coming to the West Regional in Los Angeles with a player whose name is Marlo Thomas Finner.

George Reeves Flew Solo: Oh, how America would have loved the further adventures of Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, the 7-footer from Oklahoma State whose team was eliminated. Big Country hails from Gans, Okla., population 218. When his college coach told him not to be nervous about a preseason tournament in New York in 1991, Big Country said: “Coach, I’m not worried about the game. I’m worried because I ain’t never been on no airplane.”

In a Holding Pattern: After that flight, teammate Scott Sutton made up this story about Big Country: “He heard gum would help unclog your ears. So he asked me for a stick. Twenty minutes later, I’m asleep and Country wakes me up and asks for a stick of gum. I said, ‘Country, I already gave you some gum.” And Country said, ‘Yeah, but now I need one to plug up the other ear.’ ”

Attention, Idiots: Westbound for our L.A. regional, maybe Louisville Coach Denny Crum can explain to us again why anybody who criticizes UCLA is “idiotic” and knows nothing about basketball. Duh.

Gopher Day: Minnesota is not coming to our West Regional after all. Too bad. I had made Minnesota a two-point favorite over Arizona, a five-point favorite over the Missouri-Syracuse winner and a 50- point favorite in case it got another shot at Indiana.

March Seismic Madness: The regional at the Sports Arena could be the first in NCAA history where fans request seats under a doorway.