Arkansas basketball fans may experience a frightening flashback tonight when they get to Bud Walton Arena or flip on their TVs. Texas Southern, winless on the season, comes to Fayetteville with little chance to upset the Razorbacks. Then again, no one expected the Lions to nearly defeat the Hogs the last time the two schools met — in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament. Arkansas eked that one out 79-78. The Razorbacks should prevail by much more tonight.

Texas Southern (0-6) at Arkansas (4-1)
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Bud Walton Arena
TV: KHOG (Cox Ch. 7)
Radio: for those inside our readership area, 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM or 1290-AM

About Texas Southern

These Lions will look much like those that came close to ruining Nolan Richardson’s back-to-back appearances in the national championship game. Just like in 1995, they will press and they will play mostly zone on defense. That’s because Texas Southern is led by the same coach today as it was then. Robert Moreland is actually in his 28th season leading the Lions, who enter Bud Walton Arena with an 0-6 record that doesn’t indicate how well they have played this season. Texas Southern, a Houston-based school that competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, has narrow losses to Texas-El Paso, Northern Iowa, Marquette and Mercer.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Rotnei Clarke, 6-foot, 184-pound freshman guard
The freshman sharp-shooter downs 3-pointers as well as any guard in the country, according to coach John Pelphrey, and he should receive plenty of chances to prove that tonight. Texas Southern will employ a 3-2 zone while in its half-court defense, leaving opportunities for Clarke to find cracks and launch 3s. Clarke leads the Razorbacks in 3s made (14) and attempted (32) and ranks second in 3-point percentage (.438) behind fellow freshman guard Courtney Fortson.
Texas Southern
Matthew Miller, 6-3, 200-pound senior guard
The native of Arlington, Texas, is the undisputed leader on and off the court for Texas Southern. Miller leads the Lions in minutes played (33.3), free throws converted and tried and ranks second in scoring (12.2). Moreland has shown that he doesn’t feel comfortable with Miller off the floor this season, as he has played Miller more than 32 minutes in five of six games. Miller’s only glaring weakness is his tendency to turn the ball over. He has 25 turnovers to go with 28 assists.

Keys For An Arkansas Victory

1. Handle Pressure
Texas Southern will attempt to press Arkansas tonight, something no team has tried so far. The Razorbacks’ young guards, led by Fortson, must show they can handle the heat.
2. Find Holes In Zone
The 3-2 zone used by Texas Southern can frustrate opponents that aren’t ready for it. Arkansas must be willing to work the shot clock to find a quality shot for shooters such as Clarke, Fortson and Stefan Welsh.
3. Frontcourt Depth
With junior Montrell McDonald still out with a suspension, Pelphrey needs his two reserve freshman forwards to step up. Andre Clark and Brandon Moore did make progress in Arkansas’ win Saturday over Florida A&M.
4. Henry’s Back
While McDonald won’t be at Bud Walton Arena tonight, freshman Jason Henry will. The 6-foot-6 guard missed three games with a suspension, and his contributions are sorely needed because of the Hogs’ thin bench.
5. Make Free Throws
Seems like this has been a key for every game. It will continue to be so until the Hogs prove they can connect on their free throws consistently. They were a bit better at 28 of 41 on Saturday.

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.

The Arkansas basketball team held its media day on Monday in Bud Walton Arena, which smells like paint pretty much everywhere you walk because of the numerous renovations taking place there.

There will be a story and a notebook in tomorrow’s edition of The Morning News, where we’ll also have comments from athletic director Jeff Long about the progress of those renovations.

Here are a few media day highlights:

• Arkansas coach John Pelphrey, who lost six seniors and Patrick Beverley from last season’s 23-12 team, didn’t hide the fact that this is a rebuilding season. He said as much, commenting that it’s an understandable perspective anytime a team loses “80 percent from any offensive category you want to look at.” That said, Pelphrey said expectations wouldn’t be lowered for this season.

• Pelphrey did address the Beverley situation, admitting that his loss was a big blow to this year’s team. He also looked at the bright side of the departure, stressing that other players would just have to step it up in his absence.

• Because of Arkansas’ small roster (11 players), Pelphrey said the Razorbacks would hold walk-on tryouts tomorrow (Tuesday) at the HPER building. He said he hoped to add a couple of players but didn’t rule out adding as many as four.

• Pelphrey lauded the continued maturation of juniors Stefan Welsh and Michael Washington, who will both shoulder much of the leadership duties this season.

• Welsh said he didn’t once go home to Virginia this summer and added 10 pounds of pure muscle in the offseason. Washington said he put on 15 to take him to 240 pounds.

• Pelphrey singled out each of his seven newcomers at his news conference. Of note, he called freshman point guard Courtney Fortson a “tough, nasty point guard” and compared freshman combo guard Rotnei Clarke to a former Kentucky teammate — “Travis Ford on steroids.”

• Freshman Jason Henry and junior Montrell McDonald, both small forwards, each said the departure of Sonny Weems played heavily into their choices to come to Arkansas.

• Arkansas’ first practice will be on Friday. The Hogs will then practice twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday before taking one day off early next week. The Red-White game, the first chance for fans to see the Razorbacks, is the evening of Oct. 24 in Bud Walton Arena.

Updated 11:15 p.m.

Oh, and here’s a late addition I forgot to include earlier (this was pretty funny):

• Pelphrey was asked a series of questions about flying with the Blue Angels on Wednesday at the Air Force base in Jacksonville. Only problem: Pelphrey hadn’t told his wife, Tracy. Oops. Pelphrey said, “I’ll have to tell her now,” and went on to talk excitedly about the opportunity.