After viewing the film Thursday, Arkansas’ lackluster effort in
Wednesday’s game at LSU wasn’t quite so lackluster in John Pelphrey’s eyes.
The results were equally abysmal. Arkansas lost 65-54 and trailed as much as 22
points to a SEC 0-12 LSU team the Razorbacks beat by 35 on Feb. 10 at Walton Arena.
But his Razorbacks’ effort, Pelphrey said, could have been worse.
“Going through it,” Pelphrey said Thursday of Wednesday night in Baton Rouge, La. “
it seemed we were lacking some energy and emotion. But looking at it again I was
kind of surprised in terms that we tried to play hard. They just did a good job on
us and we got off to a bad start turning it over and not making baskets.”
Whatever their degrees, the combination of LSU playing above itself while the
Razorbacks plummeted to lows last seen in their 101-70 loss at Kentucky, led to an
Arkansas disaster.
The Hogs committed 21 turnovers, including seven each by two mainstays, point guard
Courtney Fortson and freshman forward Marshawn Powell.
Powell had scored 23 and 26 points his last two games. But with senior forward
Michael Washington absent with a sprained ankle and Powell plunged into early foul
trouble, the freshman’s combined points and rebounds against LSU equaled his seven
turnovers.
Pelphrey isn’t sure whether Washington, withheld from Thursday’s practice, will be
available for Saturday’s 12:47 SEC game against Vanderbilt at Walton Arena.
However the coach and Arkansas sophomore guard Rotnei Clarke both flatly stated
Thursday they count on Powell to bounce back against Vanderbilt because they assert
he will bounce back in intervening practices.
“ I think he’ll come back and be the hardest worker for two days,” Pelphrey said.
Clarke concurred.
“Marshawn will be fine,” Clarke said. “He’ll come back in practice ready to work and
ready to bounce back.”
The sophomore guard said Powell is one rookie nobody counsels like a freshman.
“He’s pretty much a leader himself,” Clarke said. “Nobody played great last night
and that’s why we lost.”
Arkansas’ Kentucky and LSU in Baton Rouge circumstances aren’t the same, but
coming off the Kentucky deck to win five straight should help these Hogs Wednesday’s
waxing.
“It really opened our eyes at Kentucky,” Clarke said, “to be able to take something
like that and draw from it I think really has helped us.”
The lopsided LSU loss is harder to fathom.
