By KURT VOIGT
AP Sports Writer
January 7, 2011
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- John Pelphrey suffered through the worst loss of his four-year Arkansas career in a 79-46 loss at Texas this week.
The Razorbacks coach hopes to put the loss behind him quickly when Arkansas (10-3) hosts Tennessee to open Southeastern Conference play on Saturday. That will be no easy task, given the Volunteers (10-4) are coming off a convincing 104-84 win over No. 21 Memphis.
The win was Tennessee's third over a ranked team this season, including No. 5 Pittsburgh and No. 7 Villanova. The Volunteers' 10 wins entering conference play have come against the sixth-highest strength of schedule in the country, tops in the SEC.
"Certainly, it's a very deep, talented basketball team," Pelphrey said. "I think they've played a very challenging schedule, obviously coming off an outstanding performance last night. "It's going to be a hard-fought basketball game."
Arkansas also has 10 wins, but they are far from equal to Tennessee's. The Razorbacks, who lost overtime games to Alabama-Birmingham and Texas A&M, have the 284th-ranked strength of schedule. That ranks 10th in the SEC, where Arkansas has finished with losing records in each of the last two seasons.
Against the No. 12 Longhorns, Arkansas fell behind by 13 points at halftime and committed 23 turnovers in the 33-point loss. It's a setback the Razorbacks, who lost 80-73 to Tennessee last season, are trying to leave in the past.
"Obviously, that was tough," junior Rotnei Clarke said. "The only thing we can do is learn from it. We took what we did down there and looked at it and talked about it, and we're getting refocused and putting that game behind us."
Injuries have hampered Arkansas in the frontcourt so far, with preseason All-SEC first-team selection Marshawn Powell recovering slowly from a broken foot sustained in the offseason.
Also, forward Michael Sanchez has missed most of the season but saw limited action the last two games. Powell was also recently suspended for one game but returned in the last two games, scoring nine points as a reserve against Texas.
Pelphrey is counting on a healthier roster to help the Razorbacks improve in conference play.
"The injury bug has plagued us a little bit," Pelphrey said. "If you start charting it, this is about as healthy as we've been. Hopefully, us having good health all the way through makes us better. We know we've got to improve and get better to meet some of the challenges that lie ahead."
Point guard Jeff Peterson said Tennessee's big win over Memphis had no effect on the Razorbacks as they look to regroup from the Texas loss.
"Obviously, we know that they're a great team and that we're going to have to respect them," Peterson said. "But even if they had lost to Memphis by 20, that wouldn't have changed our mindset. We knew that they were going to come in here on Saturday ready to play us.
"It's SEC season. Everything is on the line right now."
