BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The basket counts!
Nathaniel Burton hit a driving layup at the buzzer that survived an official's instant-replay review and gave Georgetown a 63-61 victory over Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night.
With the score tied at 61, Georgetown took possession with 35.8 seconds left. The Hoyas ran down the 35-second clock, with Burton holding the ball at halfcourt until there were only a few seconds to play.
He began his drive down the left side of the lane and flipped up a shot almost simultaneous with the shot-clock horn.
As soon as the ball went through the net, Burton's teammates mobbed him underneath the basket. But the celebration was cut short when the officials went to the TV replay to review the play.
``We looked to see if it was a shot-clock violation. It was not,'' umpire Ted Hillary said in a statement. ``The ball was out of his hand. It is an NCAA rule (to review it). Time had expired before the ball went through the net.''
After about a minute break, an announcement was made that the basket counted. The Georgetown players raised their arms and yelled as they sprinted to their locker room.
Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson walked calmly to halfcourt as his players dejectedly walked to the locker room. Richardson asked for an explanation from the officials, but they jogged past him.
Richardson stayed on the floor for a few minutes before walking away, shoulders slumped and eyes down.
It was a fitting end to a back-and-forth half that was delayed about 10 minutes at the start because of a malfunction in the horn.
After an electrical circuit apparently tripped, the horn wouldn't stop blaring for about five minutes. Officials started the second half by using hand-held aerosol air horns, signaling when a player was making a substitution.
By the end, the horn was working, and the 10th-seeded Hoyas (24-7) narrowly beat it to advance to play the winner of the game between second-seeded Iowa State and Hampton.
Kevin Braswell led Georgetown with 12 points. Anthony Perry and Mike Sweetney added 10 apiece.
Joe Johnson scored 14 to lead seventh-seeded Arkansas (20-11), including a game-tying basket with 35.8 seconds left. Carl Baker added 12.
Georgetown's first NCAA game in 58 years without John Thompson was a memorable one for coach Craig Esherick, Thompson's longtime assistant.
It was a bruising, physical contest that featured stifling defense, players being thrown to the floor and a couple of near-altercations.
There were 36 fouls called in the game as both teams struggled to get any rhythm going offensively.
Arkansas used a full-court press after made shots, deadballs and even misses, forcing Georgetown into 23 turnovers and making the Hoyas waste valuable time just trying to cross halfcourt.
Georgetown countered with a gigantic frontline, that altered shots nearly every time the Razorbacks came into the lane. The Hoyas also controlled the backboards, outrebounding the Razorbacks 47-35, including 28-12 in the second half.
Georgetown has three players that stand 6-foot-11 or taller - two inches bigger than Arkansas' tallest player - Larry Satchell, who was limited to nine minutes by foul trouble.
Arkansas went more than eight minutes of the first half with only one basket, but made enough free throws so they never trailed by more than five points.
The Razorbacks, who led by seven early in the second half, went 3:50 without scoring as the Hoyas rallied to tie it at 52 behind the inside play of Ruben Boumtje Boumtje and Sweetney.
Baker then hit a 3-pointer to put Arkansas up by three with 7:19 to play, but Perry answered with a 3 of his own 20 seconds later. The teams then traded baskets until Burton's game-winner.
