Razorbacks rout Texas Southern
Bart Pohlman
Issue date: 12/5/08 Section: Sports
Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey has been stressing defense to his team in practice for the last few weeks.
On Wednesday, the Razorbacks finally began to show signs of improvement.
Arkansas forced 18 turnovers and used an energized defense to handle Texas Southern 80-61 at Bud Walton Arena.
"Before the game, Coach really harped about being enthusiastic and executing on both offense and defense," UA freshman Michael Sanchez said. "I think that game plan gave us a boost on defense and being alert to what's going on."
Fellow freshman Rotnei Clarke said good practices have contributed to the improved defensive play.
"I think the defensive side of it came from practice," Clarke said. "This whole week we were really focused in practice. We got after it and played really, really hard."
Jason Henry scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Razorbacks, and Clarke added 16 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting.
Freshman Courtney Fortson had what Pelphrey called his "best game," dishing out 11 assists with only one turnover.
"I thought the last two days in practice [Fortson] was phenomenal," Pelphrey said. "He carried that over to the game and made life easy for everybody. I'm just really happy with the way he's playing."
After a slow start to the game - the two teams combined to score only 11 points in the first five minutes - a technical foul on Texas Southern coach Tony Harvey ignited a 21-5 Arkansas run.
Harvey was then called for his second technical foul and was ejected with 9:31 remaining in the first half.
Assistant coach Robert Flaska took over for Harvey, but the Tigers kept struggling against the Razorbacks.
Shortly after the ejection, Fortson brought the Bud Walton crowd to its feet with a spectacular alley-oop. With Andre Clark trailing him on a fast break, Fortson tossed the ball off the backboard, and Clark slammed it down to complete the highlight-reel play.
Arkansas continued its barrage from there, and took a 43-25 lead into halftime.
On Wednesday, the Razorbacks finally began to show signs of improvement.
Arkansas forced 18 turnovers and used an energized defense to handle Texas Southern 80-61 at Bud Walton Arena.
"Before the game, Coach really harped about being enthusiastic and executing on both offense and defense," UA freshman Michael Sanchez said. "I think that game plan gave us a boost on defense and being alert to what's going on."
Fellow freshman Rotnei Clarke said good practices have contributed to the improved defensive play.
"I think the defensive side of it came from practice," Clarke said. "This whole week we were really focused in practice. We got after it and played really, really hard."
Jason Henry scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Razorbacks, and Clarke added 16 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting.
Freshman Courtney Fortson had what Pelphrey called his "best game," dishing out 11 assists with only one turnover.
"I thought the last two days in practice [Fortson] was phenomenal," Pelphrey said. "He carried that over to the game and made life easy for everybody. I'm just really happy with the way he's playing."
After a slow start to the game - the two teams combined to score only 11 points in the first five minutes - a technical foul on Texas Southern coach Tony Harvey ignited a 21-5 Arkansas run.
Harvey was then called for his second technical foul and was ejected with 9:31 remaining in the first half.
Assistant coach Robert Flaska took over for Harvey, but the Tigers kept struggling against the Razorbacks.
Shortly after the ejection, Fortson brought the Bud Walton crowd to its feet with a spectacular alley-oop. With Andre Clark trailing him on a fast break, Fortson tossed the ball off the backboard, and Clark slammed it down to complete the highlight-reel play.
Arkansas continued its barrage from there, and took a 43-25 lead into halftime.
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