COLLEGE ATHLETICS:
John Pelphrey Press Conference – UC-Davis

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas’ men’s basketball teams plays its second game of the season on Thursday when the Razorbacks meet California-Davis (1-2) in Bud Walton Arena at 7:05 p.m. Arkansas is coming off Friday’s season-opening 91-87 overtime victory over Southeastern Louisiana. Following is a partial transcript of head coach John Pelphrey’s press conference previewing the con-*test*-('").

“We feel fortunate having the chance to win the other night. This next game will be more of a challenge. Southeastern Louisiana had experience and this team does as well. Joe Harden is a transfer from Notre Dame and he’s a really good player. They can put him everywhere and they all shoot threes. Their spacing is tremendous.
“Their style of offense is similar to the Princeton style. Our guys may be blown away with how hard they cut and how hard they drive. It’s kind of unconventional in that their frontcourt players are outstanding perimeter players. It will be a cerebral game from the defensive side and a big, big challenge. Physically, they are bigger than us.
“That style, I think, was created because of the beauty and simplicity in the spacing and cutting, and to be able to capitalize on the fundamental truth defensively - the farther you go out and chase them, the more space you give them to cut.
“This is a good team. This will not be a non-competitive game. They can really play offense. It will be a battle of styles and which one will win out. We have to show discipline. They will also fast break and attack our pressure. We want to make sure we are not giving up layups, threes and free throws. We can’t give them the buffet of scoring opportunities.
“They can make a strong case to being 3-0 (lost at Iowa State, 61-58, and to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 81-75) and they have not played at home yet. They are very well coached. I think they will have a good season.”

Bench play:
“The guys on the bench need to step up. It is critical that we extend our bench. That will make us better and give us more weapons. That could be critical in winning four or five more games.”

Andre Clark, Jason Henry, Brandon Moore:
“I aspire to play Brandon, Jason and Andre as much as I can, as long as they can help us.”

Michael Washington:
“He was tremendous for us in that (SLU) game. He came up big late. He had 30 points, was 10-of-16 and had 14 rebounds. He was awesome. It got him SEC Player of the Week honors and he was very deserving. He had a great game and if he doesn’t perform like that, we don’t win.”

Defense:
“It’s going to take time. Practice is important. We have to embrace practice and do a great job of coaching and communicating, and making them understand when the game gets here how to go out and compete.”

Fall signees (Anthony Borden [7-0 center, West Memphis, Ark.], Jemal Farmer [6-5 G/F, Chicago, Ill.], Marshawn Powell [6-7 F, Crozet, Va.]):
“I’m very, very excited about Marshawn Powell. I think he’s a consensus top 50 player. He can handle it, he can pass it and he can shoot it. He has a good understanding of how to play.
“Anthony Borden has great, great physical size. He’s well-proportioned. I think he has the chance to have a big year as he gets older. He can run and he can catch the ball. We may be talking about a different kind of guy in two to three months. That’s how hard he works.
“Jemal is a big, athletic wing. We needed that with the loss of Patrick. I think he was the leading scorer in the Jayhawk Conference last year.
“All three fit a need. They have the chance to come in and fill roles and all three have the chance to have an impact next year. Physically, these guys look like SEC players.”

Marcus Monk joining the team:
“I don’t know if there is a final word, but I don’t know if there is anything to keep that from happening. He can’t do anything until the semester is over. I don’t know where he is starting with us so there will obviously be a transition period.
“We have a depth issue. I’ve never seen him bounce a ball, but I’ve been around him on occasion. He’s a high-character guy and I know Coach (Houston) Nutt thought a lot of him. In the worst-case scenario, we’re getting added depth and a guy who can speak on how to compete, and he’s a quality person.”


-- HOGS --

COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Three Recruits Sign With Men’s Basketball

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –- Arkansas’ men’s basketball program has added three recruits for next year’s team, head coach John Pelphrey announced on Tuesday.
The Razorbacks for next year include 7-0 center Anthony Borden from West Memphis, Ark.; 6-5 junior college guard/forward Jemal Farmer and 6-7 forward Marshawn Powell.
“All three fit a need,” Pelphrey says. “They have the chance to come in and fill roles and all three have the chance to have an impact next year. Physically, these guys look like Southeastern Conference players.”
Borden, a 230 pounder who preps at West Memphis High School, averaged 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds last year as a junior.
“Anthony has great, great physical size,” Pelphrey says. “He’s well-proportioned. I think he has the chance to have a big year as he gets older. He can run and he can catch the ball. We may be talking about a different kind of guy in two to three months. That’s how hard he works.”
He signed with the Razorbacks after also considering Ole Miss, Xavier, Alabama, South Carolina and Alabama-Birmingham.
Farmer, a 213 pounder from Chicago, averaged 16.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and made 37 three-pointers last year as a freshman at Cloud Community College in Concordia, Kan., helping his team finish 22-11. He earned first-team All-Jayhawk Conference honors and so far this season is averaging 21.0 points and 4.7 rebounds.
“Jemal is a big, athletic wing,” Pelphrey says. “We needed that with the loss of Patrick (Beverley). I think he was the leading scorer in the Jayhawk Conference last year.”
He prepped at Bloom Township High, where he played center, and played against Derrick Rose, who played at Memphis last year, and Beverley.
He signed with Arkansas after also considering Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas State and Alabama-Birmingham.
Powell, a 220 pounder from Crozet, Va., is prepping at The Miller School in Charlottesville, Va. CBS College Sports lists him as the No. 36 overall player in the 2009 class. Rivals has him at No. 45 overall and the fifth-best small forward. Scout ranks him the No. 26 power forward and a four-star recruit, and ESPN lists him at No. 63 overall.
Last year at The Miller School, he averaged 22.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.0 blocked shots in earning state Division II Player of the Year honors.
As a sophomore at Menchville High School, he averaged 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots in helping his team win the Peninsula District regular season and tournament titles. He earned first-team All-Peninsula District honors.
“I’m very, very excited about Marshawn,” Pelphrey says. “I think he’s a consensus top 50 player. He can handle it, he can pass it and he can shoot it. He has a good understanding of how to play.”
Powell chose the Razorbacks over Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Virginia, New Mexico, Maryland, Florida State, Miami, LaSalle, North Carolina State and Massachusetts.

-- HOGS --

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Arkansas 68, California-Davis 59

Following Thursday’s win over California-Davis, Arkansas is 2-0 for the third straight year and the fifth time in the last six season.

The win over UC-Davis was the 200th for Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena. In its 16th year in the building, Arkansas is now 200-44 for a winning percentage of .820. Since 1958, Arkansas has a home winning percentage of .785 in its last two arenas, including a 304-94 mark in Barnhill Arena from 1958-93.

Arkansas was just 1-of-13 on three-pointers. Courtney Fortson’s three, which came with 3:58 left in the first half, extended Arkansas’ streak of consecutive games with a three-point bucket to 648.

Redshirt freshman Michael Sanchez recorded his first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He’s had 12 rebounds in each of the first two games this year. He is the first Razorback to open the season with consecutive double-figure rebounding games since 1999 when Derek Hood had 18 points and 15 rebounds against Jackson State, and 10 points and 10 rebounds against Alabama State. Hood is also the last Razorback to being a season with three straight double-digit rebounding games. In 1997, he began the year with 18 points and 11 rebounds against Jackson State, 11 and 14, respectively, at Oral Roberts, and 12 and 10, respectively, against San Francisco.

Beginning with the games this week, there will be an emphasis on not allowing outside food, drinks and cups into Bud Walton Arena.

If you have anything, you will be asked to discard it at the door.

John Pelphrey Press Conference – South Alabama

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas’ men’s basketball team is back on the road this week with Wednesday’s 8 p.m. game at South Alabama. Razorback head coach John Pelphrey was the head coach at USA from 2003-07 before taking the Arkansas position prior to last season. The Hogs are 2-1 this year while the Jaguars are 2-2. Following is a partial transcript of Pelphrey’s press conference previewing the game.

“It was a tough night. Missouri State was tougher and played better. We couldn’t get things done down the stretch. We had breakdowns and turnovers. Until the last four minutes of the game, there is time to overcome some of those errors. It’s time to learn and get back to practice.
“We’re back on the road against the best team we will have played to this point in time. It will be another tough environment against some guys who have had success the last three years.
“I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished. They have four guys back who started off and on last year and they earned an (NCAA Tournament) at-large bid. They have a good, good team.
“They are going to jam the ball inside. We have to be ready to play up front. Their guys are big and strong.”

Going back to Mobile, Ala.:
“There aren’t a lot of emotions right now. We’re coming off a loss and we need to practice. It will be interesting to see. I’m sure it will be emotional for my kids. From a home standpoint, that was all they knew until we moved here. Joe (Gottfried, USA athletic director) was tremendous to us. I’m sure there will be something when we walk back into the Mitchell Center.”

South Alabama and its impact on Pelphrey’s career:
“I could have stayed at Florida another 10 years and worked for Billy (Donovan). I cared about him that much and I enjoyed it that much. I didn’t leave just to go. I knew I wasn’t going to trust my family to just anybody. I was told I could trust Joe Gottfried, and they were right. I probably wasn’t going to get an Arkansas job or something similar as an assistant. I didn’t get this opportunity without success at South Alabama. Winning was the result of all the hard work. The reason I’m going back is because of those people, not because I want to play them.”

Playing in Mobile:
“It was in my contract. Instead of a buyout, if I left for a BCS-type school, there was going to be a home-and-home series.”



Three-point shooting:
“We had good looks against UC-Davis. We just didn’t make anything. Missouri State pressured us well and we didn’t get a lot of clean looks. I think we’re better than we’ve shown. I don’t know if it’s the new distance or not, but I give credit to the defenses. The new line primarily affects the fours (forwards) and fives (centers).”

Rotnei Clarke:
“He got 16 shots the other night, but the moment he walked on the floor, someone was beside him. As we grow as a program and get better at other spots, he will be better as a weapon. The same is true for Courtney (Fortson). They will all grow and get better.”

Jason Henry:
“He is suspended indefinitely. He is practicing.”

Michael Sanchez:
“He’s done a good job rebounding. He’s strong and physical, and he’s done a good job staying on the floor. I love his heart and I love his competitiveness. It will be good to have him for several years.
“If he averages a double-double as a freshman that would probably surprise me. I am surprised we have to play him this many minutes at this time. We need Brandon Moore and Andre Clark to develop more and get into the mix. The adjustment for everyone is different. Courtney and Rotnei have done it, but there are other things they need to do better. Brandon and Andre need a better understanding of what we’re doing on a daily basis and where they need to go.”

Free throws:
“It feels like our percentage is worse than it is (.604). The ones we have missed just felt so huge.”

Love getting the press releases from UA athletic department!

COLLEGE ATHLETICS
John Pelphrey Press Conference – Texas Southern

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas’ men’s basketball team is back in Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday when the Razorbacks (4-1) play host to Texas Southern (0-6) at 7:05 p.m. The game is being televised by Razorback Sports Properties, formerly ARSN. Head coach John Pelphrey met with the media on Monday to preview the game. Following is a partial transcript of his press conference.

“We have a lot to work on on both sides of the ball. This team needs to get better. There’s no question about that. I would like to see us have more assists than turnovers, have a higher number of steals and force more turnovers. There probably aren’t too many areas on the stat sheet you can look at and say that’s where we need to be. That said, I’m happy we were able to get two wins last week.
“Texas Southern will do some things we have not seen. They are bigger than the last two teams we played. They will play a two-three zone and make more of an effort to press us than anyone else has. It will be interesting to see how much zone they play.
“I’m not paying a bit of attention to their record. I know they’ve had a difficult schedule (losses to Texas-El Paso, Cincinnati and Marquette). The will come in here and look at it as an opportunity to get a win at a place that has incredible history. You better respect every opponent that walks in here.”

Assists and turnovers:
“We have 60 assists and 70 turnovers. That’s not a crazy number, but still, as a team, you would like to have more assists than turnovers. It doesn’t really matter why we have those numbers. It’s just excuses – inexperience and playing with guys for the first time. It could be a laundry list, but we need to improve.
“Courtney needs to get into a comfort level and into a rhythm, but it’s not just Courtney. We need to learn to operate and play better as a unit.”

Michael Washington (sore back):
“In the second half against Florida A&M, he was running well. I expect him to be ready (for Texas Southern). After the South Alabama game, I didn’t think he would play. He was stiff and tight, and he didn’t look good at all. It happened during our shoot-around at South Alabama. It was during drill work. There was no contact at all, but muscles sometimes are funny things.”

Stefan Welsh:
“I think he will play even better (than he has to this point in the season). His stats are not mind-boggling in terms of shooting. He has made tremendous progress in his attitude – more so than any other guy on the team. Scheme-wise, he knows what we are doing and he’s one of the most vocal guys. I really, really appreciate what he’s done. The last two games, he’s done a tremendous job of rebounding, but there are a lot of things I find value in other than points and rebounds.”

Attitude:
“The decision (to have a good attitude) is on them. They are aware of what this staff finds value in. Attitude is one thing you can control. Your attitude, if it is good, will give you a chance. It does not guarantee you success, but it can guarantee you failure. If we continue to have a good attitude, play hard and commit to defense, we’ll have a chance to win a lot of games in the future as a program.”

Free throws:
“I’m screaming and yelling at them from a toughness standpoint, but it really is mental. It has nothing to do with repetition. When it’s a game, and winning and losing is on the line, it’s a whole different environment.”

Marcus Britt:
“He has been really good. He’s steady. He’s always had an SEC skill in terms of being able to defend. He helps us play well.”

Bench:
“Jason Henry (who did not dress for the last three games) will have an opportunity to play if we get through Monday and Tuesday. The best comment on Montrell McDonald is he is suspended indefinitely. It’s important everybody understand there will be games. It would be nice to have everybody do the right things. There’s an expectancy level here of the right way to do things and Arkansas deserves that.”

Arkansas 80, Texas Southern 61

With Wednesday’s victory, Arkansas has now won 37 straight home non-conference games. The last loss came in December of 2003.

Freshman Jason Henry led the team and had a game-high tying 19 points against TSU. Entering the game, he had scored two points in two games and 23 total minutes. On Wednesday, he was 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 on threes, and had seven rebounds to go with his 19 points.

Freshman guard Courtney Fortson had 11 assists and just one turnover against the Tigers. He leads the team with 5.7 assists per game. His game total is the best for a Razorback since Jan. 6, 2007, when Gary Ervin had a double-double of 18 points and 11 assists in an 88-61 home win over No. 8 Alabama. The last time a Razorback had more was Nov. 18, 2005, when Dontell Jefferson had a school-record tying 15 in the 107-69 home win over Portland State.

Freshman forward Andre Clark had eight points and five rebounds against Texas Southern. He’s averaging 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds over the last two games and 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds over the last three.

COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Group tickets available for basketball

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Athletic Department is now offering group tickets for the 2008-09 basketball season. Group tickets are great for any business, birthday or civic group outing.
Groups of 20 or more can be purchased for non-conference games for $15 each, excluding Texas, Oklahoma and North Texas. Conference tickets can be purchased for $25 each. Groups of 20 or more will get name recognition during the event, a 10% off coupon to Hog Heaven on each ticket purchased and complimentary women’s basketball tickets. The number of women's basketball tickets depend on how many men’s tickets are purchased.
Groups who purchase 50 or more tickets will also receive an autographed basketball from head coach John Pelphrey. John Pelphrey is entering his second season leading the Razorbacks. Arkansas currently holds a 4-1 season record. The Razorbacks' remaining schedule includes home games against Oklahoma, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee and games in the Jim Thorpe Classic held at Bud Walton Arena.
Group tickets can be ordered by calling 479-575-4412.