FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas sophomore forward Marshawn Powell discussed several topics Monday when he met with the media, but declined to comment on his relationship with Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey.
Powell, who earlier this season was suspended for the North Carolina A&T game for an undisclosed reason after playing one minute in the previous game against Texas Southern, was asked about the perception that he has a strained relationship with Pelphrey.
“I can’t really comment on that too much,” Powell said.
Why not?
“I can’t talk about it,” Powell said.
But why can’t you talk about it?
“Because I just choose not to, man,” Powell said.
Asked if he didn’t want to comment because it was a personal matter, Powell said, “Yeah, a little bit.”
Pelphrey held his news conference Monday to talk about the Arkansas-Kentucky game before Powell and Glenn Bryant met with the media. Pelphrey couldn’t be reached for comment Monday night about Powell’s “no comment” on whether they have a strained relationship.
Powell did talk about wanting revenge against Kentucky on Wednesday night at Walton Arena after the Wildcats’ 101-70 victory over the Razorbacks at Rupp Arena last season. He also said the Razorbacks (16-10, 5-7 SEC) can have a strong finish despite being 1-4 in their previous five conference games.
Arkansas has lost 10 consecutive games to Kentucky since beating the Wildcats 82-78 on Feb. 25, 2001. The Razorbacks went 4-2 against Kentucky in the teams’ first six meetings after Arkansas joined the SEC for the 1991-1992 season, but the Wildcats hold a 19-7 advantage in the teams’ matchups as conference foes.
“I don’t really know too much about it,” Powell said of the series history. “I just know last year they killed us. I just want some payback for that.”
The Razorbacks trailed at Kentucky 57-27 at halftime and 75-29 with 15 minutes left last season before Wildcats Coach John Calipari pulled his starters.
“Man, it was terrible,” Powell said.
Powell was a bright spot for the Razorbacks with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots and earned praise from Calipari after the game as being one of the SEC’s best freshmen.
Powell made the SEC All-Freshman Team after averaging 14.9 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds in 31 minutes per game with 32 starts, but he hasn’t been able to match those numbers this season.
A broken left foot Powell suffered in early August in a pickup game in his hometown of Newport News, Va., caused him to be limited in preseason practice and sit out two early-season games. He’s averaging 10.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 21 minutes in 23 games, including 13 starts. In 12 SEC games he’s averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 24.2 minutes.
Powell was one of eight players voted onto the preseason All-SEC first team by the conferences coaches.
“It hasn’t been going the way I thought it would have,” Powell said of his season overall. “I didn’t plan on getting injured, breaking a foot like what happened.
“But, I mean, I just have to take it as it comes. It’s been all right. It’s been tough, and sometimes it’s been good.”
Powell said he “probably started a little too soon to be honest” in his comeback after breaking his foot.
“But it’s gotten a lot better,” he said. “It’s going to come back. I just need to give it time.”
Powell has scored 13 or more points in seven SEC games, including a season high 21 in an overtime loss at South Carolina. He’s had three SEC games in which he scored six or fewer points, including five on 2-of-5 shooting in 20 minutes in the Razorbacks’ 69-56 loss at Alabama last Saturday night. He also had three turnovers against the Crimson Tide.
“I never got in sync, I never got into the game to be honest,” Powell said. “But I have games like that sometimes. Even Kobe has games like that sometimes.”
Powell was referring to NBA standout Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Powell said he struggled with focus at times at Alabama.
“I think I could have done a better job of doing that,” he said. “It was a tough night for me all night.”
Powell said last season before the SEC Tournament that he planned to assume a vocal leadership role for the Razorbacks. He said Monday his foot injury made that more difficult.
“I haven’t tried to do that the whole season due to my injury, just the psychological part of it, just getting over it,” he said. “I’d say since we came back off Christmas break, I’ve been trying to do a lot better things, like do what Coach tells me to do and just suck it up no matter what’s going on.”
Powell said he believes Arkansas can have a strong finish because of the team’s work ethic.
“We always come ready to work, man,” he said. “We just work so hard. Sooner or later, it’s going to have to pay off for us.
“I believe if we get a win over Kentucky. ... That would be a big, big, big boost for us.”
Sports, Pages 15 on 02/22/2011