Freshman Wade enjoys nice debut

— Arkansas guard Mardracus Wade made a nice f irst impression for curious fans who came to Walton Arena for Friday night’s Red-White game.

Wade, a 6-2 freshman from Memphis by way of Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, scored a gamehigh 18 points in 18 minutes to lead the Red team to a 38-19 victory. He hit 5 of 10 field goal attempts, including 5 of 8 three-pointers, and also went 3 of 3 from the free throw line after being fouled on a threepoint attempt.

At one point, Wade scored 15 consecutive points.

“I think it gives you a lot of confidence going into the season, feeling good with your shot,” Wade said. “At the same time, I feel I still have to get better.

“But for it to be the opening game, I think I did pretty good.”

Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey liked Wade’s shooting, too.

“That was a positive,” Pelphrey said. “I didn’t think they were bad shots, either. I thought they were good ones.

“It wasn’t like he was taking crazy shots and just had one of those nights where he was lucky they went in.”

Pelphrey said he’s been stressing good shot selectionin practice.

“Hopefully that kind of sinks in with [Wade] that when I take good ones, I’ve got a chance of making a high percentage of them,” Pelphrey said. “If I don’t take the right ones, nobody makes a high percentage of them.

“It’s good to be aggressive, but he needs to understand a flow of offense, when to go and when not to go. It’s hard for young players.”

Wade stood out on a night when the Razorbacks were without three key players: junior guards Rotnei Clarke and Jeff Peterson and sophomore forward Marshawn Powell.

Pelphrey announced that Clarke violated a team rule and the disciplinary action includes missing the Red-White game and exhibition opener against LeMoyne-Owen College on Nov. 6. Clarke is continuing to practice.

“We all make mistakes, and I make them,” Pelphrey said of Clarke’s suspension. “Certainly this isn’t something that happened today ... It’s something we’ve already dealt with.”

Powell, gradually recovering from a broken bone in his left foot suffered in early August, has been doing some drills in practice and might start going through contact work next week.

Peterson has been slowed by a hamstring injury and Pelphrey said he expectedhim back to practice shortly.

With Powell and Peterson, Pelphrey said he wants to take a cautious approach so they practice when they’re fully healed.

“Marshawn’s fine,” Pelphrey said. “It’s more of a conditioning thing. I don’t want to put him in a high level practice without having some base from a conditioning standpoint.

“I think it’s just too risky for him hurting something else. I don’t want him pulling a hamstring, pulling a groin.”

Pelphrey said Peterson “tweaked” a hamstring earlier in the week and probably could have played Friday night if needed.

“That can be a fickle injury,” Pelphrey said. “We’d rather not have something like that nag him all year long.”

Fans who looked at the boxscore might bewondering who “Nelson” is for the Razorbacks. That was assistant coach Brett Nelson, who played at Florida from 2000-2003, and was pressed into action for the Red-White game with three players not dressed.

Nelson hit 1 of 3 shots 10 minutes and had 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers.

“I was a little disappointed in Nelson,” Pelphrey said with a laugh. “I thought he needed to be a little more aggressive. I’ve seen him play better.”

Nelson’s 274 three-point baskets rank second on Florida’s all-time list, but Friday night his shooting was no match for Wade’s display.

“It was a great feeling with the fan support,” Wade said. “I love playing with these guys as y’all can see.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard, and I think we’re going to be OK.”

Sports, Pages 26 on 10/24/2010

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