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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Remember when John Pelphrey’s young Razorbacks were considered one of the hottest teams in college basketball? Recall when every NCAA “mock bracket” had the the Hogs in the tourney field? Kind of hard, isn’t it?

After going seven weeks without a loss, Arkansas hasn’t won a game in 18 days. So needless to say, the Razorbacks desperately need a W over the Auburn Tigers today.

Auburn (11-7, 1-3) at Arkansas (12-4, 0-3)
When: 12:05 p.m.
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville
TV: KHOG (Cox Ch. 7, CoxHD Ch. 707)
Radio: 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM, 1290-AM for those in our readership area
Line: Arkansas by 4.5
Series: Arkansas 23-13 (15-2 in Fayetteville)
Last Meeting: Arkansas beat Auburn 77-64 on March 8, 2008, in Fayetteville

About Auburn

This is another team built to give Arkansas problems. Jeff Lebo puts four guards on the floor around senior big man Korvotney Barber, making defensive life miserable for opponents’ power forwards. Translation: Good luck, Michael Sanchez, Marcus Monk and Andre Clark. The Tigers certainly have talent, but they still haven’t been able to develop any consistency under Lebo, their fifth-year coach who could be fighting for his job. Auburn’s only SEC victory came over short-handed rival Alabama last Saturday.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Stefan Welsh, 6-3, 185-pound junior guard
This week in practice, Welsh has increased the intensity. Pelphrey said no one outworked Welsh, who has tried as much as possible to embrace his leadership role for the Razorbacks. Now, the question is: Can Welsh produce on the court like a leader. He hasn’t scored in double figures since Arkansas’ last victory, shooting 8-for-29 during the Razorbacks’ three-game slide.
Auburn
Quantez Robertson, 6-3, 200-pound senior guard
So, what has happened to Robertson? Not sure if anyone knows, even himself or Lebo. Throughout his Auburn career, Robertson has been a go-to guy. He has been an above-average shooter and an on- and off-the-court leader. But this season, Robertson has slumped. He is averaging only 6.7 points per game and shooting only 37.4 percent from the field and 20.5 percent from 3-point range.

Gameday Links
• In today’s Morning News, my story takes a look at Arkansas’ struggling 3-point defense.
• Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News states that today’s game is another tough road contest for Auburn.
• Evan Woodbury of the Mobile Press-Register wonders which Arkansas team will show up today in Bud Walton Arena.

Now, the Razorbacks get to prove how they can handle success. Fresh off its upset of No. 4 Oklahoma, Arkansas makes its yearly trek to North Little Rock today hoping to not suffer a letdown against North Texas. The Hogs have dropped their last two games in Alltel Arena — to Texas Tech (2006) and Appalachian State (2007). So they certainly have ample motivation to knock off the Mean Green.

North Texas (8-5) vs. Arkansas (10-1)
When: 2:05 p.m.
Where: Alltel Arena, North Little Rock
TV: KFTA — Cox Ch. 8 in NW Arkansas
Radio: 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM, 1290-AM for those in our readership area

About North Texas

As of two weeks ago, the Mean Green seemed far more menacing. North Texas was 8-2 heading into a trip to New Orleans. But eighth-year coach Johnny Jones’ team lost that game, as well as the next two contests. Riding a three-game losing streak, the Mean Green (from Denton, Texas) looks to get back on track today. But UNT must do so without one of its top players. Senior guard Collin Dennis didn’t practice with the Mean Green on Thursday and didn’t make the trip to North Little Rock. Jones said Dennis had some kind of an incident on New Year’s Eve. Dennis’ absence will hurt UNT, but enough threats still exist to give Arkansas coach John Pelphrey concerns. North Texas shoots 38.7 percent from 3-point range, led by 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Tristan Thompson (12.8 ppg) and 5-10 junior guard Dominique Johnson (10.6).

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Michael Washington, 6-9, 239-pound junior forward
Seriously, what can’t Washington do? The McGehee native has shown immense versatility in his game this season in racking up six double-doubles. One more of those, and Washington will have the most for a Razorback since 1999. North Texas will throw a lot of bodies at Washington today, hoping to force the ball out of his hands. But Washington, who averages a team-high 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds, has proven lately that he can get his numbers despite all the attention.
North Texas
Collin Mangrum, 6-5, 195-pound sophomore guard
Without Dennis out, the Mean Green must find an ample replacement for the preseason second-team all-Sun Belt pick. Mangrum could be that player, and his increased productivity lately is a testament to his toughness. Mangrum has undergone five surgeries in the past 20 months. In fact, he only played three games this season. Mangrum referred to his career-high 19-point effort in an overtime loss to Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday night as “bittersweet.”

Keys For An Arkansas Victory

1. No Pressure
The Razorbacks talked the past few days about the passion of the fans in central Arkansas and mentioned how badly they wanted to win for them. The Hogs can’t get caught up too much in that storyline.
2. Pound The Ball
Inside, that is. Washington should present matchup problems for anyone who tries to guard him. Expect freshmen Michael Sanchez, Brandon Moore and Andre Clark, as well as senior Marcus Monk to dominate the glass. Oh, and don’t forget about freshman point guard Courtney Fortson on the boards.
3. Clarke Shooting
This was a key for Tuesday night’s game against Oklahoma, and freshman Rotnei Clarke’s continued improvement of late will only open more things up for Fortson and Co. Clarke was 4 of 17 from the field for the two games leading into the OU game, but he connected on 3 of his 4 shots from 3-point range against the Sooners.
4. Create Pace
Fortson has no problem with this. It’s pedal-to-the-metal all the time with him, and his teammates certainly love that mentality.
5. Guard The 3
North Texas has one chance at beating Arkansas: get hot from beyond the arc. The Razorbacks must make every effort to limit open looks for guard-oriented UNT.

Gameday Links
• Here’s my feature on Fortson that ran in today’s Morning News.
• Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle looks into Dennis’ suspension and previews the Mean Green’s trek to North Little Rock.
• Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com gets him some Monk.
• ESPN.com has moved Arkansas up to No. 28 in its most recent “Power Rankings”

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.

Arkansas coach John Pelphrey decided to not take his young Razorbacks to an exotic location for a tournament this season. He didn’t think they were ready for the experience. Instead, the Hogs will host the Jim Thorpe Classic, which begins tonight with their game against Austin Peay. They will face Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night to wrap up the event, giving them two challenging foes for this event.

Austin Peay (5-3) at Arkansas (6-1)
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Bud Walton Arena
TV: nope
Radio: for those inside our readership area, check out 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM or 1290-AM

About Austin Peay

Basketball tradition is rich at this Ohio Valley Conference school located in Clarksville, Tenn. Dave Loos, the Governors’ 19th-year coach, has built a consistent winner at Austin Peay, which has won 45 games the past two seasons and won last year’s OVC crown. His team is 5-3 this season, but four of those victories have come on the road. One of those defeats came last Saturday at No. 9 Louisville, a contest in which the Governors led midway through the second half. For the effort, junior guard Wes Channels was named OVC Co-Player of the Week and forward Anthony Campbell was selected OVC Freshman of the Week. Senior forward Drake Reed leads the Governors at 20.5 points.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Courtney Fortson, 5-11, 180-pound freshman point guard
Should be intriguing to see what Fortson will produce as an encore to his triple-double last Wednesday against North Carolina Central. His 20-point, 11-assist and 10-rebound effort earned him SEC Player of the Week honors and drew national attention. With the Governors bringing two inexperienced point guards with them to Fayetteville, expect Fortson to ooze confidence.
Southeastern Louisiana
Drake Reed, 6-5, 225-pound senior forward
An all-OVC performer the past two seasons, Reed is on pace for a career-best campaign, even better than his OVC Player of the Year performance as a sophomore. Loos described Reed as “being able to do a little bit of everything for us.” Reed is a competent scorer, passer, rebounder and defender, and he has mastered the art of drawing attention and finding open shooters.

Keys For An Arkansas Victory

1. Right Attitude
The schedule immediately upgrades from the past three weeks. The cupcakes are gone. The quality opponents have arrived, and Arkansas’ attitude must reflect that reality.
2. 3-Point Defense
Four shooters for Austin Peay have taken at least 20 shots from 3-point range and made at least 39.7 percent of them. The Hogs must get out on those shooters.
3. Constant Pressure
Arkansas began to show more full-court pressure in its victory last Wednesday over North Carolina Central, and the Razorbacks need to continue to expand on that.
4. Board Battle
Austin Peay comes to Fayetteville severely out-sized. Frontcourt players such as Michael Washington, Michael Sanchez, Andre Clark and Brandon Moore need to exploit the size differential.
5. Find Clarke
Freshman guard Rotnei Clarke must get more shots. The Razorbacks have done a poor job recently of finding the sharp-shooting Clarke in the flow of the offense.

Gameday Links
• Here’s more of an in-depth look at the challenge Austin Peay presents in today’s Morning News.
• From the Governors’ perspective, James D. Horne of the Leaf-Chronicle in Clarksville, Tenn., provides a preview of tonight’s matchup.
• FoxSports.com’s Jeff Goodman gave Fortson a shout-out in his “weekly wrap.”
• Click here to catch up on some SEC notes.

John Pelphrey knew this day was coming, ever since he signed his name to his South Alabama contract in 2002. He knew he’d have to return to Mobile one day, thanks to the clause Jaguars AD Joe Gottfried put in that contract. But that doesn’t make the task the Razorbacks face tonight any easier.
Arkansas will do what so many major-conference schools are afraid to do — travel to the home court of a mid-major. South Alabama’s Mitchell Center is sure to be rocking tonight when the Jaguars and Razorbacks face off, but at least Arkansas has some road experience under its belt.
The Razorbacks lost Saturday at Missouri State but hope to show they learned from their past mistakes away from home. Also, for the second straight game, they’ll be without freshman guard Jason Henry, who is still suspended.

Arkansas (2-1) at South Alabama (2-2)
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Mitchell Center, Mobile, Ala.
TV: not available in NW Arkansas
Radio: for those inside our readership area, 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM or 1290-AM

About South Alabama

Coach Ronnie Arrow is back in Mobile, in his second stint leading the Jaguars. He coached South Alabama from 1988 to 1994 and then left Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before last season to return to Mobile. USA went 26-7 last season and earned at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Jaguars lost two experienced guards (both recruited by Pelphrey) from that team — Demetric Bennett and Daon Merritt — but still possess enough talent to compete for a Sun Belt Conference title. South Alabama has been more frontcourt-oriented thus far this season in going 2-2 as its young guards have taken some lumps. Arrow said Tuesday that he expected an up-tempo, frantic pace tonight, and there’s no indication of which team that will benefit more. The Jaguars have lost at Ole Miss and at No. 3 Louisville, while beating Alcorn State and Florida A&M.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Montrell McDonald, 6-foot-5, 181-pound junior guard/forward
Pelphrey will likely call on McDonald to play minutes at multiple positions tonight. McDonald’s versatility has earned him more minutes than expected early this season, and that trend should continue throughout the nonconference portion of Arkansas’ schedule. South Alabama has strong, physical players playing the small forward position, so McDonald will be needed to pitch in there defensively. McDonald is third on the team in rebounding with an average of 6.3
South Alabama
Domonic Tilford, 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior guard
The Jaguars’ most experienced guard thrives off the ball, but because of South Alabama’s backcourt inexperience he has had to play some point guard. He was suspended for USA’s first two games because he played in two non-sanctioned games during a summer league in his hometown of Louisville. Tilford scored 33 points in the Jaguars’ last two games, but he needs to take better care of the basketball tonight to give his team a chance. He has nine turnovers and only five assists in two games.

Keys For An Arkansas Victory

1. Stay Focused
Tonight is about the Arkansas Razorbacks trying to win a basketball game. That’s all. The Hogs must remember that and avoid getting caught up in the whole Pelphrey back to South Alabama storyline.
2. Defense Up Front
The key to this contest revolves around Arkansas’ ability to keep South Alabama from scoring too often in the paint. Michael Washington and Michael Sanchez must be strong and stay out of foul trouble.
3. Freshman Guards
Courtney Fortson and Rotnei Clarke didn’t entirely struggle Saturday at Missouri State, but they also didn’t exactly appear comfortable. They need to take care of the basketball and convert scoring opportunities.
4. Handle Pressure
The Razorbacks committed 17 turnovers in their loss Saturday at Missouri State. They should see far more pressure defensively tonight from South Alabama than they encountered in JQH Arena.
5. Make Free Throws
“I felt like we missed them all.” That was Pelphrey after Saturday’s defeat. While the Hogs only missed nine of their 24 free throw attempts, Arkansas’ coach realizes how important it is to improve in that area.

Gameday Links
• Pelphrey has a lot to remember about his days in Mobile.
• Tommy Hicks of the Mobile Press-Register describes why tonight’s Coors Classic game isn’t any ordinary contest.

Here’s the first installment of at least 30 “It’s Gameday” blogs throughout the 2008-09 Arkansas basketball season. First on the schedule this season for John Pelphrey’s young Razorbacks are the Southeastern Louisiana Lions.

Southeastern Louisiana (0-0) at Arkansas (0-0)
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Bud Walton Arena
TV: nope
Radio: for those inside our readership area, 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM or 1290-AM

About Southeastern Louisiana

The Lions, coached by Jim Yarbrough, traveled to Fayetteville from Hammond, La., a town of almost 20,000 located 45 miles east of Baton Rouge. Though they compete in the Southland Conference (and are picked to finish third, by the way), they are no stranger to the kind of environment they will see tonight. They went to LSU, Alabama, Mississippi State, Texas El-Paso and Iowa last season, which they finished at 17-13. And they bring back two starters and five lettermen from the team that lost only one of those road contests by more than 10 points. Southeastern Louisiana does possess athleticism, but Pelphrey referred to the Lions as “deliberate” earlier in the week. Look for the Lions to try and slow the pace on Arkansas tonight.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Michael Washington, 6-foot-9, 239-pound junior forward
The main question for Washington this season is, can he develop into the double-double guy Arkansas needs down low? The McGehee native oozes talent and has patiently waited his turn behind big men such as Hill, Townes, Thomas and Hunter. He will be the primary inside-the-paint focus of every Arkansas foe. Can he handle that, and can he stay out of foul trouble?
Southeastern Louisiana
Kevyn Green, 6-5, 215-pound senior guard/forward
An all-Southland performer last season, Green averaged a team-high 15.4 points per game. He drained 80 of his 201 shots from 3-point range (39.8 percent) and led Southeastern Louisiana in scoring in 16 games. Green could pose matchup problems for the Razorbacks, so expect to see a number of different players take a turn guarding him.

Keys For An Arkansas Victory

1. Defensive Intensity
This team possesses the athleticism to press opponents. But they must prove they have the will, the consistent energy, the tireless peskiness that Pelphrey craves.
2. Bombs Away
The Razorbacks will shoot way more threes than they did a year ago. Most nights, either Rotnei Clarke or Stefan Welsh better be on from beyond the arc if Arkansas wants a W.
3. Mike Wash’s Sidekicks
Arkansas’ three freshmen forwards — Michael Sanchez, Andre Clark and Brandon Moore — must produce more than expected, starting right now.
4. Courtney Fortson
Expect to see his name here a lot this season. Yes, he’s a true freshman. But the Hogs need the confident point guard to hound on defense and dish-and-deliver on offense.
5. Don’t Get Down
Something will go wrong tonight. Somethings will happen all season long, but how the inexperienced Hogs react to their mistakes could determine their game-by-game fate.

Gameday Links

• In case you missed it, we had a Q&A with Pelphrey in today’s Morning News and a feature on Moore in Thursday’s edition.

• This was an early look at the Lions and Green (who may only play the first semester) from John Lenz of the Hammond Daily Star.

• Missouri State starts its season tonight at Auburn, one of seven SEC teams opening up play this evening. Lyndal Scranton of the Springfield News-Leader previews the team Arkansas will face in eight days.

• Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes that Kentucky is ready to start Billy Gillispie’s second campaign, and Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun pointed out that Billy Donovan wants to find some leaders tonight.