Hogs hope to bounce back on the road at Mississippi
Posted on Wednesday, January 14, 2009
ANDY SHUPE Northwest Arkansas Times Arkansas junior forward Michael Washington (00) and Mississippi State junior center Jarvis Varnado (32) vie for a rebound beneath the basket during the Hogs' 70-56 loss Saturday in Bud Walton Arena.
OXFORD, Miss. - For giddy Razorback fans last midweek, it seemed Texas coach Rick Barnes set this week's Arkansas' agenda for SEC road games tonight at Ole Miss and Saturday afternoon at Florida.
"They will be a tough out here," Barnes said on Jan. 6 right after the Razorbacks upset his visiting seventh-ranked Longhorns at Walton Arena. "The question will be can you go out on the road? That's what makes Top 10 teams Top 10 teams. That will be the real test. You've got to be able to take it on the road."
Well, of course John Pelphrey's Razorbacks, playing but two road games nonconference but facing eight on the SEC road, still must be able to take it on the road starting with this 7 p.m. nontelevised game at Tad Smith Coliseum.
But now it isn't to prove worthy of a national Top 10 ranking. Tonight it's just proving worthy of attaining .500 in the SEC West.
Those lofty sites set for the Hogs when they were 12-1 nonconference, with No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 7 Texas among the 12, took a tumble. SEC West member Mississippi State shot into Walton last Saturday night and shot down Arkansas, 70-56 in the SEC opener for both teams.
"Certainly losing one at home," Pelphrey said. "We have got to find a way to get one on the road. Our first opportunity is at Ole Miss."
Some probably will tell you if you've got to hit the SEC road, Ole Miss is the place to hit.
After all, the Rebels - 9-6 overall to Arkansas' 12-2 - also are 0-1 in the SEC. More significantly, they have lost their three top guards, Chris Warren, one of the best in the SEC, Eniel Polynice and Trevor Gaskins, for the season with injuries.
Just don't tell Pelphrey he's got it easy against a bunch of crippled Rebels.
From the time current Arkansas assistant coach Rob Evans was the Rebels' head coach in 1993 through coaching successors Rod Barnes and now third-year coach Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss annually plays as hard as anyone in the SEC, particularly in Oxford.
Starting with Nolan Richardson's national runnerup Razorbacks in 1995, losing at Oxford as did second-year coach Pelphrey's Hogs last year, Arkansas is 2-12 at the Tad Pad.
Warren, scoring 26 when the Rebels lost last season in Fayetteville, Polynice and Gaskins combined for 25 points when Ole Miss prevailed over Arkansas in Oxford.
They won't be in uniform tonight but they weren't in uniform last Saturday when the Rebels went to favored Florida. Ole Miss played better in that 78-68 road loss than Arkansas did at home versus Mississippi State.
"They competed and had themselves in it the whole way through," Pelphrey said. "That's a very hostile environment and they kept battling and fighting."
All the underclassman reserves the Rebels must play now will make them extra tough next year presuming Warren, Polynice and Gaskins return healthy, Pelphrey said.
The coach added, "Plus having had the chance to watch them, I think they are going to win games this year."
Especially if David Huertas continues filling Warren's void.
Warren averaged 19.0 points through 11 games before his injury. Huertas, a 6-5 junior guard and former Florida Gator, averages 19.9, up from 10.7 in last season's shadows of Warren and graduated big man Dwayne Curtis.
"He's a tremendous competitor," Kennedy said. "Now as he looks around, he's really the last one standing of the four guys that we did have with experience returning."
Ole Miss freshman Will Bogan isn't a scoring point guard like Warren, but he's a precociously steady one, nonetheless.
"He's stepped in and given those guys stability," Pelphrey said.
Ole Miss sophomore Zach Graham and freshman forward Malcolm White tallied 14 and 11 points against Florida behind Huertas' 16.
The Razorbacks, led by junior forward Michael Washington averaging a 17.8 points/10.6 rebounds doubledouble and guards Courtney Fortson, Stefan Welsh and Rotnei Clarke in averaging points in double figures, had heard nothing but accolades through a 10-game winning streak until last Saturday's stumble. Now they not only hear doubters that accompany defeat but hear their first hostile crowd since Nov. 22 and Nov. 26 at Missouri State and South Alabama.
"When the other team gets on a run, our crowd is not going to be there to get loud and help us," Welsh said. "It all has to be done within the team."
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