Waiting to Exhale: Arkansas Razorbacks 66, Michigan Wolverines 64

Whew!

A game that produced pure joy in the first half was something close to pure agony down the stretch, as the Razorbacks' offense came to a halt - they scored only 20 points after halftime - and the Wolverines kept chipping away until they were down by only two and had the ball for the final shot. I'd be lying if I said my life didn't flash before my eyes when Trey Burke fired his last-second three-point attempt: it looked good when it left his hands and went as far down the hoop as it could without falling all the way through.

Still, I'm not going to let the ugliness of the second half spoil my afternoon too much: This was a big, big win for a young and undermanned Arkansas squad (one that may be even more undermanned after Marvell Waithe's apparently serious injury). Michigan is a fine team, and Hog fans shouldn't be surprised that the Wolverines mounted a nerve-frying comeback.

On another note, it was great to see Bud Walton rocking again. Indeed, with Nolan Richardson in the building, the Hogs scoring in bunches in the first half and Bill Rafferty thoroughly getting on my nerves, I sometimes felt as if I had traveled back to 1994 or 1995. I think many more fun afternoons of Razorback basketball are on the horizon.