Hogs seek elusive road win
Men's Basketball
Matt Jones
Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: Sports
In a Southeastern Conference season where wins have been hard to come by and inconsistency has been an overriding theme, one thing has remained constant for the Arkansas basketball team - futility on the SEC road.
The Razorbacks (13-8, 1-7) are 0-4 in conference road trips this season but have a chance to remedy that record with a date at Auburn tonight.
"We're excited about another chance to go on the road and get an SEC road win," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "That is something we want to do very badly."
But league road wins have come few and far between for Razorback basketball. Arkansas hasn't finished with a winning SEC road record since 1995 and is just 10-50 since 2001.
Pelphrey's teams are 2-10 in SEC away games. Stan Heath was just 7-33 in his five seasons at the school.
Even Nolan Richardson's best single-season road record in the SEC was 3-5 in his final seven years at the school.
"I don't have a great frame of reference for the past [at Arkansas[, but it is difficult to win on the road," Pelphrey said. "It's an attitude and a mentality, and you certainly have to have a level of play to get that done. You have to be a team on that night - better than your opponent."
Much like recent years, Arkansas has been spotty on the road this season. Counting nonconference match-ups with Missouri State and South Alabama, the Razorbacks are 1-5 in true road games this season with very different results.
At Ole Miss and LSU earlier this season, Arkansas trailed by 23 points before having second half rallies stymied by the home team.
At Florida, the Razorbacks trailed early, swapped the lead several times, fell behind by 20 late and eventually lost by 15.
And in Arkansas' last game Saturday at Mississippi State, the Razorbacks built a 15-point halftime lead, only to see the Bulldogs eradicate it in the first 10 minutes of the second half, eventually falling 86-77.
Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke said he would like to see that trend reversed.
The Razorbacks (13-8, 1-7) are 0-4 in conference road trips this season but have a chance to remedy that record with a date at Auburn tonight.
"We're excited about another chance to go on the road and get an SEC road win," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "That is something we want to do very badly."
But league road wins have come few and far between for Razorback basketball. Arkansas hasn't finished with a winning SEC road record since 1995 and is just 10-50 since 2001.
Pelphrey's teams are 2-10 in SEC away games. Stan Heath was just 7-33 in his five seasons at the school.
Even Nolan Richardson's best single-season road record in the SEC was 3-5 in his final seven years at the school.
"I don't have a great frame of reference for the past [at Arkansas[, but it is difficult to win on the road," Pelphrey said. "It's an attitude and a mentality, and you certainly have to have a level of play to get that done. You have to be a team on that night - better than your opponent."
Much like recent years, Arkansas has been spotty on the road this season. Counting nonconference match-ups with Missouri State and South Alabama, the Razorbacks are 1-5 in true road games this season with very different results.
At Ole Miss and LSU earlier this season, Arkansas trailed by 23 points before having second half rallies stymied by the home team.
At Florida, the Razorbacks trailed early, swapped the lead several times, fell behind by 20 late and eventually lost by 15.
And in Arkansas' last game Saturday at Mississippi State, the Razorbacks built a 15-point halftime lead, only to see the Bulldogs eradicate it in the first 10 minutes of the second half, eventually falling 86-77.
Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke said he would like to see that trend reversed.
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