FAYETTEVILLE — When Arkansas’ basketball team landed at Drake Field at 12: 45 a.m. Sunday after losing at Georgia 82-69, the Razorbacks didn’t head home to go to bed.
Instead, the Razorbacks headed to Walton Arena to practice.
Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey got the players back on the court at 1: 30 a.m. and had them practice for about an hour.
Why practice then ?
“I thought we needed it,” Pelphrey said. “We lost.” The way the Razorbacks (13-5, 2-2 SEC ) lost to the Bulldogs (11-5, 2-1 ) probably had more to do with the reason for Arkansas ’ early-morning Sunday practice than Georgia simply winning.
Georgia led the entire second half and built a 19-point lead, while Arkansas played with a lack of intensity.
“It’s not like we went down there and had a slugfest and lost a close game at the end. That’s not what happened,” Pelphrey said. “I didn’t feel like we gave an Arkansastype effort.” Pelphrey originally had planned to give the team Sunday off, but changed his mind and let the players know about the 1: 30 a.m. practice when the team met in the airport terminal after landing.
“My thought process was we need to get better and that [effort in the Georgia game ] was unacceptable,” Pelphrey said. “We can all make excuses. None of them are good enough.
“ The bottom line is Georgia wanted the game. They played better than we did, and as much respect as I have for the SEC and as much respect as I have for the talent level in our locker room and as much respect as I have for Arkansas, I just felt like we needed to do something so we understood that effort wasn’t good enough.” Pelphrey said the Razorbacks practiced well Sunday morning.
“We may have practiced better than we played,” he said.
The Razorbacks practiced again at 4 p.m. on Sunday, then were off Monday and Tuesday in keeping with NCAA rules.
Arkansas needed to take an extra day off this week after not taking any days off the previous week because it had hursday and Sunday games.
“There are still a lot of challenges ahead of us, and we’re looking forward to them,” Pelphrey said. “The season is not over with.” Pelphrey said that as of Wednesday, he didn’t plan any changes in the starting lineup or player rotation for Arkansas’ game at LSU on Saturday night.
That means a starting lineup of sophomore guards Patrick Beverley and Stefan Welsh, senior forwards Sonny Weems and Charles Thomas and senior center Steven Hill, and a bench rotation of senior guard Gary Ervin, senior forward Darian Townes, sophomore forward Michael Washington and freshman guard Marcus Britt.
Freshman guards Levan Patsatsia and Nate Rakestraw have yet to play in an SEC game.
“They’re not ready yet,” Pelphrey said. “Those guys obviously are going to be a part of our future.
“ Right now, they’re learning every single day. They’re striving to get better. They’ve giving great effort. Their attitude is there. They’re just behind some experienced guys.” Forward Michael Sanchez, Arkansas’ most heralded signee, is redshirting this season.
“He’s doing well,” Pelphrey said. “Obviously, Mike is going to have an opportunity to play next year. There will be a lot of playing time for him and Mike Washington next year.” But Pelphrey said he remains focused on this season and finding the right buttons to push to get Arkansas back on track after consecutive SEC losses to South Carolina and Georgia.
Mississippi State leads the West at 4-0, while Arkansas, Auburn and Ole Miss are tied for second place at 2-2.
“This thing is a marathon. It’s not a sprint,” Pelphrey said. “Certainly we want to do as well as we possibly can every single day, but we’ve got to stay the course.
“ It’s a long season, and we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve got to improve, and probably just as much mentally as physically.”
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