Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/ JASON IVESTER Junior Stefan Welsh is third on the team in scoring, which isn't a surprise, but his defense has been an eye opener.
Fortson rebounds after half
FAYETTEVILLE - The first half of Tuesday night's game against Texas won't show up on Arkansas freshman Courtney Fortson's personal highlight reel.
In fact, the first 20 minutes - or the 11-minute portion which Fortson played - probably represented the shakiest stretch the 5-11 point guard has turned in all season.
Fortson committed six first-half turnovers - one on a bad pass that was mistakenly given to Rotnei Clarke - had two fouls within the first three minutes and struggled at getting his shots or creating them for others. He went 0 for 2 from the field, had 1 assist, 4 rebounds and 5 points while playing 11 minutes because of foul trouble.
Fortson's two quick fouls did not help Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey catch his breath.
"I think I lost oxygen there," Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. "That's something we really haven't had deal with."
It was a different story in the second half.
Fortson piled up 8 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and had just 1 second-half turnover as the Razorbacks' responded to his floor leadership, rallying for a 67-61 victory over the No. 7 Longhorns.
"I came out with my adrenaline too high, obviously," Fortson said. "A lot of players would have let that first half mess up their ball-playing, but I just threw it off and played the second half like I didn't remember the first half."
Texas Coach Rick Barnes said stopping Fortson has to be a team effort defensively.
"Really and truly, against a player like that, everybody's got to be ready to guard him," Barnes said, comparing Fortson's play-making ability to former Texas guards T.J. Ford and D.J. Augustin. "You've got to have five guys ready to help.
"The worst mistake you can make, and we did it a couple of times, is when you give him an angle and our post guys help up and he was able to find somebody."
Bet on Welsh
Stefan Welsh's scoring upgrade - to third on the team with an average of 14 points per game - has not been a surprise. But the junior guard's defense, most especially the job he did on Texas star A.J. Abrams in Arkansas' 67-61 upset on Tuesday night, has been something of an eye opener.
Welsh fought through screens and scrambled around the perimeter with the Horns' leading scorer for most of the 40 minutes. The result: Abrams, who entered the game averaging 19 points per game, went 3 of 16 from the field, 1 of 8 from three-point range and scored a season-low 7 points.
"They did a good job of staying attached," Abrams said. "Basically, it's shots I've been hitting all year, but I just couldn't knock them down. It was a tough night."
Abrams missed his first eight shots before hitting a 20-footer at the 10:20 mark of the second half. When he followed with a three-pointer against Rotnei Clarke on Texas' next possession, it appeared the 5-11 senior was heating up. But Welsh got back on him, and Abrams made only one other field goal - a floater in the lane at the 2:15 mark..
"We were able to limit arguably the best scorer in the country," Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. "We understand also that he had a tough night."
Seeing red
John Pelphrey's wife, Tracy, convinced the Arkansas coach to wear the bright red blazer he donned for the Texas game.
She picked out the material at a local clothing store where the couple shops.
"I just thought it would be fun," Tracy Pelphrey said. "I told him, 'The fans would go crazy.' He did it for the fans, because he knew they'd love seeing him in Razorback red."
Fans responded by increasing the decibel level at Walton Arena when Pelphrey first stepped onto the court, but the loudness of the blazer might have accounted for some of the extra noise.
Tracy Pelphrey said her husband wanted to break out the blazer for last week's game against Oklahoma, but she reminded him the Sooners also wear red.
There's no word when Pelphrey might wear the red blazer again, but presumably he'll save it for extra special occasions.
How about Valentine's Day, when Kentucky - where Pelphrey played - visits Walton Arena?
Board bash
Not everything was rosy in Arkansas' victory over Texas, including the Hogs' season-low 38.7-percent shooting, and most especially their rebounding.
Texas outrebounded the Razorbacks by a 50-37 margin, easily the most lopsided deficit Arkansas has had this season. In fact, Texas become only the third team all season to outrebound the Hogs, though it was also the second in a row, preceded by North Texas (35-34). Northwestern (La.) State also outrebounded Arkansas, 47-44.
Arkansas entered the Texas game with a plus-10 rebound margin, good for sixth in the NCAA and first in the SEC.
Hogs maturing?
A reporter wanted to know if the Razorbacks understood the magnitude of beating back-to-back top 10 opponents Oklahoma and Texas a week apart or were they too young to even grasp what it meant, so he asked juniors Stefan Welsh and Michael Washington and freshman Courtney Fortson at the postgame interview table.
"That's what a lot of people have been saying," Fortson said, "that we're young and we're going to get the big head and not go out and play hard.
"This is like the face of our team. We're just going to go out and play hard every night and hope everything falls into place, like tonight."
Vs. ranked teams
Arkansas is 8-2 against ranked teams in John Pelphrey's two seasons as coach, including 5-0 at home. The other three victories were at neutral sites last season, when Arkansas beat No. 18 Vanderbilt and No. 4 Tennessee in the SEC Tournament at Atlanta and beat No. 24 Indiana in the NCAA Tournament at Raleigh, N.C.
Arkansas' all-time record against ranked teams is 79-103, including 39-18 at home. Against top 10 opponents, the Razorbacks are 20-43, including 13-5 at home.
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