Razorbacks Come Through for Unrestrained No. 1 Fan : Basketball: Clinton family stops off on way home from California, cheers Arkansas squad to an NCAA semifinals victory over Arizona.

The Arkansas Razorbacks had one particularly powerful fan on their side as they beat the Arizona Wildcats, 91-82, in the NCAA basketball semifinals Saturday.

President Clinton, along with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, stopped off on their way home from a vacation in Southern California to watch the game and cheer on the Arkansas squad.

Although they stayed out of view in skyboxes, the President, a longtime fan of the Razorbacks, made no attempts to appear to be an unbiased spectator.

“I was very worried,” he told reporters afterward. “It was a hard game. I’m glad we don’t have to replay it.”

Clinton shook hands all around in the skybox after the game, but did not go down to the floor and headed quickly to the presidential motorcade. His return to Washington later in the evening wrapped up the family’s nine-day vacation, but the President is off again Monday on a five-day, six-state tour.

Early in the game, when Arkansas pushed ahead, 18-15, the First Fan, sitting in a skybox owned by Charlotte Hornets’ owner George Shinn, sprang to life--clapping, pumping his fist and pointing out certain players.

But shortly before halftime, after the Wildcats had scored eight unanswered points, the President looked like a very worried fan. Moments later, Arizona tied the game at 41.

In the second half, as Arkansas gained the upper hand and then widened its lead, the President--dressed in a business suit, white shirt and tie--leaped to his feet, jumped up and down with his hands in the air and cheered.

Watching the game with the First Family were Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles; retired Boston Celtic John Havlicek; Barlow Herget, an old friend of the President’s from North Carolina; Harvey Gantt, onetime Democratic challenger of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.); and Hugh McColl, chief executive officer of NationsBank, which is headquartered in Charlotte.

Having a President attend the tournament added to the pandemonium of hosting the Final Four contest for Charlotte. For example, crowds of spectators had to pass through metal detectors to enter Charlotte Coliseum.

Clinton is believed to be the only President to attend a basketball game while in office, and the record he has set will be hard to beat. Saturday’s game was the third he attended this season, and he plans to return to Charlotte on Monday night to see the Razorbacks play in the championship.

That trip will come after the traditional Monday morning Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. The Clintons also will open the major league baseball season in two different cities--the President throwing out the first ball in Cleveland while the First Lady does the honor for the Chicago Cubs’ first game of 1994.

The rest of the week, however, is devoted to an Administration-wide blitz to regain momentum for Clinton’s health care reform plan.

The President’s schedule will include town meetings and health care events in North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas and Minnesota. He also plans to travel to Kentucky for the funeral of Democratic Rep. William H. Natcher.

While previous presidents have honored athletes with White House receptions and telephone calls, Americans have never seen a President who was so unabashedly crazy about a particular team.

Before heading to Coronado last weekend for a vacation with his family after attending his brother’s wedding, Clinton squeezed in time for the NCAA Midwest regional final game in Dallas, where the Razorbacks triumphed over the Michigan Wolverines, 76-68.

The President was so wrapped up in that game that lip-reading television viewers caught him clearly cursing when the Razorbacks seemed to be losing their lead right before halftime.

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Perhaps feeling the need to maintain his presidential composure--and not offend Michigan voters too much--Clinton restrained himself from joining in Arkansas’ traditional “Whoooo! Pig! Sooey!” cheer during that game.

Apparently such restraint is not Clinton’s norm.

“If you want to be calm and quiet, you shouldn’t watch a game with me,” he told Sports Illustrated magazine last month. “I call the Hog. I change the defenses. I talk to all the players. I do all kinds of stuff. But it’s a great tension-reliever.”

Although Clinton jogs and plays golf regularly, his enthusiasm for basketball is that of a spectator and fan, not a participant. He does, however, do his share of armchair dreaming.

“It’s a fabulous game, isn’t it?” Clinton told the magazine. “It makes me wish I were two inches taller and 20 pounds lighter. With a four-foot vertical jump, I could be doing something else.”