How '40 Minutes of Hell' determined the 1994 National Champion
The 1994 Arkansas Razorbacks didn't find their way to the National Championship Game because of a roster stacked with elite talent. It was head coach Nolan Richardson's approach to defense - which would come to be known as "40 Minutes of Hell" - and players like Corliss Williamson who played much larger than his natural size should have allowed him. This combination helped the Razorbacks knock off Duke and capture the school's first NCAA championship.
It's been 20 years since Richardson, Williamson, Scotty Thurman, Corey Beck, and Clint McDaniel et al pressured their way through North Carolina A&T, Georgetown, Tulsa, Michigan, Arizona, and finally Grant Hill and the Duke Blue Devils.
To this day, the '94 Arkansas team is still considered one of the all-time great tournament champions, thanks to Richardson's philosophy that demanded a quick pace on offense, and intense pressure on defense.
Corliss Williamson's understated greatness
Williamson was never the biggest player on the court. He stood 6-foot-7, but he might have been the meanest player out there.
The Arkansas native shot nearly 63% in his sophomore season, averaging 20.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and over a block per game. He embodied Richardson's defensive philosophy, which helped him earn the nickname "Big Nasty." Williamson led the Razorbacks to a 31-3 record in 1993-94, and he was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 94 tournament.
Arkansas Vs. Duke for the 1994 National Championship
The Blue Devils entered the '94 Championship Game with a shot at winning their third tournament in four seasons. It would be the first time Arkansas would compete for a title, and the Razorbacks were favored over the much more storied Duke team. Both teams survived close calls in their semi-final appearances, with Duke coming back from 13 down in the second half to top Florida. Arkansas trailed Arizona by as much as six points with less than 10 minutes, but emerged the winners in a 91-82 game that was anything but a defensive affair.
For Hill, this was the first time he played for a championship in the absence of his former Blue Devils teammates Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley.
The first half was a tight contest, as expected. The Razorbacks held a narrow one point lead heading into the break. Both teams shot rather poorly, with Hill hitting just 4-of-11 attempts for 36%. He had been a 46% shooter for the season, and 53% for his college career. It was "40 Minutes of Hell" indeed for Duke.
Williamson contributed 23 points on 10-of-24 shooting and a three-of-five effort from the line. Both Thurman and Beck chipped in with 15 points a piece, but the Razorbacks shot just 39% as a team. Despite their struggles to make baskets, Williamson and co. fought back from a 10 point second half deficit.
With less than a minute remaining, and the score tied at 70, Thurman nailed a three point attempt with one second left on the shot clock to pull ahead. It was fouls and free throws the rest of the way.
Richardson's Razorbacks were champions.
Almost a dynasty
Williamson returned for his junior season and once again led the way on a Razorbacks team that finished 32-7. Arkansas once again pounded its opponents all the way to a second straight National Championship Game apperance, but they would fall short in an 89-78 loss to a UCLA team led by Ed O'Bannon.
Duke was the only team to win back-to-back titles/multiple titles in the 1990s, and everyone remembers the great Blue Devils teams. Arkansas was so close to joining Duke in the discussion of 90s dynasty basketball teams.
Richardson's "40 Minutes of Hell" as a legacy
The 1994 team and Richardson's defensive tactics became the focus of an ESPN documentary titled "40 Minutes of Hell" in 2012. He is the winningest coach in Arkansas history and the Razorbacks' 1994 championship remains the only one in school history.
Ten years after Arkansas' tournament victory, UAB head coach Mike Anderson used a system modeled after Richardson's to upset a No. 1 seed Kentucky team in the second round of the 2004 tournament.
"It's a controlled chaos,'' Anderson told ESPN. "They can call it what they want to. All I know is that it enabled us to have a chance to beat Kentucky. And we did."
The Game