I just polished off a couple of stories on the Arkansas basketball team, which begins practice tomorrow night.

Plenty of news, notes and quotes were crammed into the space. Most of it dealt with the offseason turmoil surrounding the program.

But while I was working on all that, Arkansas did release two news items worth mentioning here on the blog:

• The FoxSports.com love for the Razorbacks continues. A couple days after guard Rotnei Clarke was named the nation’s top shooter, forward Marshawn Powell was named one of 20 impact freshman. Powell, who has shed 25 pounds since arriving on campus and is expected to aid Michael Washington in the frontcourt immediately, was listed at No. 18 on the FoxSports.com list.

• Arkansas announced that Razorback Sports Network has finalized a six-game broadcast schedule for nonconference games. Here are the six games that will be on TV in addition to what has already been set: Nov. 27 (East Tennessee St), Dec. 2 (Oklahoma), Dec. 16 (Alabama St.), Dec. 19 (Stephen F. Austin), Dec. 22 (Missouri St.) and Jan. 2 (Alabama-Birmingham). Where can you watch those games? Here is what is listed — KFTA (Ch. 24) in Fayetteville, KATV (Ch. 7) in Little Rock and KAIT (Ch. in Jonesboro.

It’s hard to believe, I know, but Arkansas basketball tips off preseason practice tomorrow night.

Most of the talk this week has centered on Arkansas playing top-ranked Florida in Gainesville on Saturday, but there is hoops news to share, mainly because we haven’t been able to talk at length to players and coaches for quite some time. John Pelphrey, Rotnei Clark, Courtney Fortson and Michael Washington were all available today. Here were some of the highlights:

• Off-the-court issues have been a big topic and Pelphrey addressed them somewhat today. He wouldn’t specify which players have been suspended for which games, saying that will be addressed later. He hopes players understand and have learned from their mistakes.

“Since I’ve been here, I find a value to doing the right things,” Pelphrey said. “Being a disciplined basketball team on the court, off the court. And if you don’t do the right thing we’ll be swift to take action. Thought out, of a response to that. I feel like there’s a standard to which we need to live up to in terms of representing this school and this state.”

• Point guard Courtney Fortson was asked about his insensitive comment on Twitter, which was posted while his teammates were being investigated for an alleged rape. Fortson said he regretted the Tweet and added “you live and you learn and you move on.” As noted earlier, Pelphrey wouldn’t comment on the discipline Fortson faces, but said it should be a lesson to everyone.

“I think all those guys need to be mindful, whether it’s Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, texting, there’s a standard there, too,” Pelphrey said. “It’s not just you it could affect. There’s a lot of people out there that may hold you accountable for your words.”

• Michael Washington spoke about his decision to return to the team after testing the NBA waters. Washington said he didn’t get too deep into the process, but did learn what he needs to work on. Interestingly, he said it was a family decision. His family decided Washington needed to come back to school, so that’s what he did. Pelphrey and the Razorbacks are counting on him to perform this season.

“We need Mike to do it again,” Pelphrey said. “The jump that he made was big. I think if he can somehow duplicate that, that would be better than what he did last year because he’s going to be the first name on the board. We’ve got to stop this guy. So if he duplicates that, he’s had a pretty succesful year and that would be phenomenal.”

• The golfer, also known as Stephen Cox, is back on the team. Pelphrey said he went to Arkansas golf coach Brad McMakin and asked if he could get Cox back for the season. Why? Well, Pelphrey said Cox is valuable to what the Razorbacks do.

“I think we’ve got a lot of people that are a huge part of our program that probably don’t start and score a lot of points and do those types of things,” Cox said. “But as you know, I find a value to Stephen. He helps us.”

• The status of another walk-on, Nick Mason, is not quite clear. Mason was involved in the fraternity house incident in late August. Pelphrey said he’ll address Mason’s situation later as well. However, he was asked if Mason would practice tomorrow and responded with:

“Nick will be a part of the team on some limited basis, yes.”

• Like I said above, Arkansas will practice for the first time Friday at 5 p.m. They will practice twice on Saturday and Sunday. There won’t be much time until they’ll take to the floor, too. The Red-White game is scheduled for Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m.

That’s all regarding the hoops team for now, but there’s much, much more to share. Look for more blogs and stories over the next several days.

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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Twenty-three nights have now gone by since Arkansas last won a game. That victory came on Jan. 29, when the Hogs downed Alabama 89-80. Interestingly enough, Arkansas went 23 nights without a victory before the that win, as well. The Razorbacks should be due for a win tonight at Colonial Life Arena then, right? Well, I don’t quite think South Carolina will be on board with that.

Arkansas (13-11, 1-10) at South Carolina (18-6, 7-4)
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, S.C.
TV: None
Radio: 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM, 97.9-FM, 1290-AM in our readership area
Line: South Carolina by 10
Series: Arkansas leads 12-8 (South Carolina has won six of the past nine meetings)
Last Meeting: South Carolina beat Arkansas 70-66 on Jan. 16, 2008, in Fayetteville

About South Carolina

First-year coach Darrin Horn has a real chance at earning Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year honors. The main reason: He has the most productive and possibly most talented backcourt in the league. Junior point guard Devan Downey scores 19 points a game and frustrates most defenders who try to stop him. Senior shooting guard Zam Fredrick is a great second scorer for Horn. That backcourt has helped make him for some evident deficiencies. Seriously, South Carolina just finds a way to win. Two examples are Downey’s game-winning jumper at Kentucky and Mike Holmes’ length-of-the-court baseball pass to Fredrick for a buzzer-beating layup against Florida.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Rotnei Clarke, 6-0, 184-pound freshman guard

Little by little, Clarke has looked increasingly comfortable during SEC play. He’s expanding his game beyond being just a set shooter, evident from his create-off-the-dribble plays during his 17-point performance Wednesday against LSU.

South Carolina
Devan Downey, 5-9, 175-pound junior guard

Quite simply, Downey is athletically the most explosive guard in the league, even more than Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, even more than LSU’s Marcus Thornton. Downey has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.

Gameday Links

• Here’s my story in today’s Morning News on Arkansas’ recent rebounding woes, and here are my keys to an Arkansas victory. Robbie Neiswanger’s scouting report on Downey is in today’s print edition.
• South Carolina isn’t the deepest team, but Seth Emerson of The State (Columbia, S.C.) writes that an emphasis on conditioning has helped with that.

Arkansas won its first Southeastern Conference game 36 hours ago, but the Razorbacks’ victory over Alabama better be long gone from their minds. Such is life in the SEC, as the Hogs are in Baton Rouge, La., today, facing their toughest test of league play against the Western Division-leading Tigers.

Arkansas (13-5, 1-4) at LSU (16-4, 4-1)
When: 4 p.m.
Where: Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, La.
TV: Fox Sports Net (Cox channel 27)
Radio: 107.9-FM, 92.1-FM, 105.3-FM, 1290-AM for those in our readership area
Line: LSU by 10
Series: Arkansas leads 28-18 (Arkansas leads 10-9 in Baton Rouge)
Last Meeting: Arkansas beat LSU 87-61 on February 20, 2008, in Fayetteville

About LSU

Trent Johnson’s Tigers made the top of my SEC Western Division ballot at the league’s media days back in October. But I wasn’t exactly confident in a first-year coach winning the division. Sure seems possible now.

LSU is tied with Mississippi State atop the West and is surely playing its best basketball of the season right now. Most importantly, the Tigers are comfortably settling into nice roles.

Senior guard Marcus Thornton (19.5) and junior forward Tasmin Mitchell (15.3) are the scorers. Senior center Chris Johnson does the dirty work inside, senior guard Garrett Temple runs the show well and sophomore guard Bo Spencer is an all-around threat.

LSU’s resume lacked a quality run win until Wednesday night’s six-point victory at Tennessee.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Rotnei Clarke, 6-0, 184-pound freshman guard
Hard not to focus on the newcomer from Verdigris, Okla. Clarke had his breakout game as a Razorback in Thursday’s victory over Alabama. He nailed 6 of his 10 shots from 3-point range, finished with 26 points and didn’t even score in the game’s final seven minutes.
LSU
Tasmin Mitchell, 6-7, 235-pound junior forward
Mitchell’s junior season was cut short last year after only three games because of a stress fracture in his left shin bone. He had season-ending surgery on Nov. 29. Now, Mitchell is back and healthy, averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Gameday Links
• Robbie Neiswanger’s advance story in today’s Morning News looks at Arkansas’ psyche after winning its first SEC game.
• Gary Laney of the Baton Rouge Advocate addresses the Tigers’ recent stretch of stellar play. Joseph Schiefelbein wrote on LSU’s celebration of 100 years of basketball.
• Also, I’m physically holding up and reading a great preview from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, with full coverage of the centennial celebration. Unfortunately, I can’t find the links online. Sorry!

  Hopefully, everyone either has electricity or is in the process of getting it restored after several days without it. (I was ecstatic to pull into my neighborhood after covering Arkansas’ win over Alabama last night to see that the other houses had their lights on again.)

  For those lucky enough to have electricity, check out the coverage of Arkansas’ first SEC win on The Morning News’ Web site. Because of early deadlines brought on by the ice, none of the articles made the newspaper, but they did make nwaonline.net.

  To make  things easier after several days of bad luck and bad weather, here are the articles from last night’s win over Alabama. Check out Ryan Malashock’s game story, which addresses the fact that it had been too long since the Razorbacks last won a game.

  Robbie Neiswanger’s sidebar focuses on Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke, who broke out of his recent shooting slump in a big way. And there is my lengthy notebook, which starts off with the last-minute changes Arkansas officials made prior to tip-off because of the ice storm. And of course, I couldn’t leave out the Courtney Fortson wigs that fans wore.

  After several days of this mess, I hope everyone is safe and again has heat and electricity in their homes. As for Arkansas, it finally has an SEC win.

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 coach John Pelphrey returns to Gainesville, Fla., this afternoon, ready to enter the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for the first time since leaving the Gators in 2002.
Pelphrey spent six seasons as an assistant coach under Florida coach Billy Donovan before taking the South Alabama job. And he’d like nothing better than to improve to 2-1 lifetime against Donovan, his mentor/friend/golf buddy.
Plus, the Razorbacks could use an injection of positivity right about now. Last week at this time, they were poised to enter the Top 25. Now, two disappointing defeats later, Arkansas is simply hoping to avoid an 0-3 Southeastern Conference start.

Arkansas (12-3, 0-2) at Ole Miss (15-2, 2-0)
When: 1:05 p.m.
Where: Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
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: Florida by 10.5
Series: Tied 10-10 (Florida leads 6-2 in Gainesville)
Last Meeting: Arkansas beat Florida 80-61 on Feb. 2, 2008, in Fayetteville

About Florida

The Gators are nearly as young as the Razorbacks. Donovan starts three sophomores, a junior and a senior, and all five of his top reserves are freshmen. So far, Florida’s collective inexperience hasn’t kept it from winning 15 of its first 17 games. The Gators’ talent is undeniable. Sophomore Nick Calathes has smoothly handled his transition to the point guard position. Sophomore center Alex Tyus has steadily improved at the center spot. And the Gators’ role players all understand, and embrace, their roles. Florida also takes great care of the ball, evident by its SEC-leading plus-1.42 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Gators’ only losses came to Syracuse in Kansas City and at Florida State, and their best wins have come over Bradley, Washington and Ole Miss.

Players To Watch

Arkansas
Rotnei Clarke, 6-0, 184-pound freshman guard
The sheer shock of the statstic — zero points — left Clarke speechless. The all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma high school history somehow managed to play 28 minutes without a point Wednesday night at Ole Miss. The Razorbacks must find a way to get Clarke, a 40.9 percent shooter from 3-point range, going today if they want to have any chance of winning.
Florida
Nick Calathes, 6-6, 194-pound sophomore point guard
Donovan’s new floor general may just be the best all-around player in the SEC. Calathes can simply do it all, proven by his averages of 17.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He can shoot. He can pass. He can rebound. He can D up. He can run an offense efficiently, and he can take care of the basketball. Arkansas junior guard Stefan Welsh should draw the opening assignment on Calathes.

Gameday Links
• Check out the following in today’s Morning News: my preview discussing the way Arkansas’ trying to deal with failure and a scouting report on Calathes from Robbie Neiswanger.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun describes how Florida is seeking stronger finishes. He also wrote his own “Gameday” article, which includes today’s SEC slate at the bottom.
• Oh, and today is a heck of a day for a college basketball fanatic. If you want to park your butt in front of the TV all day, here’s a nice viewing guide (top right) to help you satisfy your hoops fix — courtesy of ESPN.com.

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.

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.