Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey held a news conference this morning, and since it was the first time he has spoken to the media in awhile, there was plenty of sound bites to come out.

  Robbie Neiswanger, who was at the news conference, passed these items along. We’ll have more later.

  Pelphrey said there will be no changes to his coaching staff despite last season’s collapse. The Razorbacks are also one over its scholarship limit, and Pelphrey said there is time for that to work itself out. In other words, someone could transfer or a recruit could not become academically eligible.

  Pelphrey said guard Marcus Britt, who was suspended indefinitely following his arrest for driving while intoxicated, is very remorseful and still around the team. And despite Patrick Beverley’s recent admission that he had someone else writing papers for him at Arkansas, Pelphrey said he still has a relationship with the former Arkansas guard.

  And finally, Arkansas must add one game in early January to fill its schedule. At the moment, Louisville (and Rick Pitino), Texas and Baylor highlight the Hogs’ nonconference schedule.

  Again, Robbie will have more on Pelphrey’s news conference later on the blog and in The Morning News.

Arkansas basketball coach John Pelphrey has suspended junior Marcus Britt after his DWI arrest.

Here’s a statement from Pelphrey released by the university:

“Marcus Britt has been indefinitely suspended from all team related activities for a violation of team rules,” Pelphrey said. “He is a representative of the University of Arkansas and our basketball program, and needless to say, we are disappointed. He is still a part of our team, but the expectations of being a Razorback include meeting high standards on the court and off the court.”

For an audio preview of tonight’s contest, click here to hear the Gameday Insider with Morning News sports writers Nathan Allen and Ryan Malashock.

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Arkansas looks to win for only the second time since Jan. 6.

Kentucky (17-7, 6-3) at Arkansas (13-9, 1-8)
When: 12:05 p.m.
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville
TV: CBS (Cox channel 5, Cox HD channel 710)
Radio: 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM, 1290-AM for those in our readership area
Line: Kentucky by 4.5
Series: Kentucky leads 22-7 (Tied 4-4 in Fayetteville)
Last Meeting: Kentucky beat Arkansas 63-58 on Feb. 23, 2008, in Lexington, Ky.

About Kentucky

The Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak Tuesday night with their thrilling 68-65 victory over Florida. Junior guard Jodie Meeks drained an NBA range 3-pointer in the final seconds to clinch the win. In that game, however, 6-9 sophomore forward Patrick Patterson — a preseason all-American pick by some — rolled his right ankle. He is questionable for today’s matchup.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Marcus Britt, 6-3, 198-pound sophomore guard

With freshman point guard Courtney Fortson suspended, Britt’s minutes will likely increase more than any other player’s. Britt has struggled recently, going scoreless in his last three games and tallying more than two points only once in his last six.

Kentucky
Perry Stevenson, 6-9, 207-pound junior forward

The Wildcats’ ideal role player has produced consistently all season, and his role today becomes even more important with Patterson’s status in doubt. Stevenson has grabbed at least seven rebounds in each of his last six games.

Gameday Links

• Here’s my story in today’s Morning News on the meaning of Arkansas-Kentucky. Robbie Neiswanger has the scouting report on Meeks, and here are my keys to Arkansas victory.

• Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald Leader writes that Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie has refused to rule out Patterson for today’s contest.

• The Wildcats didn’t exactly struggle without Patterson, though, as Brett Dawson of the Louisville Courier Journal points out.

It isn’t a bitter rivalry anymore, as much as fans fond of old Southwest Conference times want it to be. But this Arkansas-Texas basketball game, at this time, with this young, exciting Razorback team, needs no rivalry history to make it worthy of grand importance.Their records are 22-3 combined. Texas is No. 7 in the this week’s AP poll, making it the highest-ranked two-loss team in college basketball.
Bud Walton Arena should be packed. Two great point guards will battle back and forth. NBA talent exists on both sides. Seriously, rivalry shmivalry. This game is huge. Oh, and by the way, Las Vegas oddsmakers made the Longhorns a 6-point favorite over Arkansas, which looks to put its winning steak into double digits.

No. 7 Texas (11-2) vs. Arkansas (11-1)
When: 8:05 p.m.
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville
TV: ESPN2 (Cox Ch. 24, CoxHD Ch. 733)
Radio: 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM, 1290-AM for those in our readership area
Line: Texas by 6

About Texas

Coach Rich Barnes has his team easily on pace to going to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight time at Texas. Arkansas coach John Pelphrey pretty much indicated that he thought the Longhorns possessed more depth and talent than Oklahoma did. You can see why Pelphrey said Texas could go to the Final Four and compete for the national championship. Their only losses have come by one point to Notre Dame in Hawaii and by four points to Michigan State in Houston. The Horns own big wins over UCLA, Villanova and Wisconsin. Those last two were away from home, so Texas won’t be intimidated by any means by a packed Bud Walton Arena. Texas is undoubtedly led by senior point guard A.J. Abrams, who truly is more of a scorer. He paced the Longhorns with a 19.0 scoring average and shoots about 45 percent from 3-point range.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Courtney Fortson, 5-11, 180-pound freshman point guard
The Razorbacks’ gritty leader has passed every test presented to him thus far this season. Tonight’s matchup with Abrams and an otherwise athletic Texas backcourt might be his stiffest challenge. Fortson has simply shined over the last seven games, posting 64 assists to only 25 turnovers. He was as inconsistent as he has been all season in Arkansas’ win over North Texas on Saturday, with five assists and several lazy defensive possessions. So how he reacts to that performance could determine tonight’s outcome.
Texas
Damion James, 6-7, 222-pound junior forward
Abrams is the heart and soul of this Texas team. But James may provide the biggest matchup problems for the Razorbacks. James has a power forward mentality and the budding skills of an NBA small forward. At 6-7, he is four inches taller than the two players who usually play the ‘3’ spot for Arkansas — junior Stefan Welsh and sophomore Marcus Britt. James averages 14.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, but those numbers have risen to 15.7 points and 12.7 rebounds over the past three games.

Keys For An Arkansas Victory

1. Starting Fast
Arkansas had Oklahoma in a 25-8 hole. The Razorbacks must come out hot again if they want a chance to knock off a Top 10 opponent for the second time in eight days.
2. On The Glass
The Hogs lead the Southeastern Conference in rebounding. That’s a quite a feat, especially when you consider how little depth they have in the frontcourt. They must continue that and beat Texas on the glass tonight
3. Mike Washington
This guy just seems to get better and better. Washington was the SEC player of the week after going off for 58 points and 22 rebounds in wins over OU and North Texas. He’ll have a lot attention on him tonight. But that hasn’t bothered him thus far this season.
4. Guarding James
As alluded to above, the Razorbacks need to contain James. It should be a collective effort, and Pelphrey may even opt to play some zone to try and corral him.
5. Use The Crowd
Bud Walton Arena will again be packed, and the Razorbacks will need to feed off of the crowd’s energy. That means producing enough hustle plays that will involve the crowd early and often.

Gameday Links
• For today’s Morning News, my story focused on Fortson and Texas freshman Varez Ward, basketball teammates and best friends since the eighth grade.
• Mark Rosner of the Austin American Statesman takes a look at Barnes’ quest for Longhorn consistency.
• Upset that the Razorbacks didn’t crack the Top 25 in either poll? Click here to see how each AP pollster voted. The coaches poll, unfortunately, is conducted in total secrecy.
• And finally, CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish jokingly thinks Washington should get a car or something for his effort Saturday in North Little Rock.

Arkansas coach John Pelphrey met with the media Monday morning in Bud Walton Arena to discuss his team’s Tuesday night home tilt against No. 4 Oklahoma.

He spoke about the “tremendous respect” he had for the Sooners and coach Jeff Capel and said that Arkansas would have to overachieve if it wanted to hand Oklahoma its first loss. He raved about the skills of Oklahoma 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Blake Griffin, who many think could be picked first in the 2009 NBA Draft.

But he wouldn’t sell the rest of the Sooners’ starting lineup short. As for forward Taylor Griffin and guards Austin Johnson, Willie Warren and Tony Crocker, Pelphrey said, “When they go to figure up end of season (Big 12) awards, these guys will be on the list. They’ll be in the conversation.”

Pelphrey later commented on injured freshman Jason Henry, saying he’d know much more about the 6-6 guard’s status after Henry underwent arthroscopic surgery at about 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Henry injured his right knee during one of Arkansas’ two practices last Friday. He tried to continue through practice and even showed up intending to play Saturday in the Razorbacks’ 95-56 win over Northwestern State (La.). But Henry’s knee “kept locking up on him,” trainer Dave England said.

England said Henry needed to have some loose cartilage removed from the knee. A successful surgery, he said, would keep Henry out only two to three weeks.

Also, freshman point guard Courtney Fortson returns to the starting lineup Tuesday night after a one-game hiatus because of an undisclosed violation of team rules. Fortson’s absence allowed junior guard Stefan Welsh to start after opening up Arkansas’ two previous contests on the bench. Welsh responded with a career-high 27-point effort Saturday night against the Demons.

When asked, though, Pelphrey declined to say whether Welsh or sophomore guard Marcus Britt would start alongside Fortson, freshman guard Rotnei Clarke, junior forward Michael Washington and freshman forward Michael Sanchez. Pelphrey said both Welsh and Britt would see increased minutes with Henry out — just like in Saturday’s game.