Built to last

UA’s depth plus, but it must get by Vandy first

Arkansas' Rashad Madden, center, keeps close to Kedren Johnson of Vanderbilt Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, during the first half of the first home conference game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Arkansas' Rashad Madden, center, keeps close to Kedren Johnson of Vanderbilt Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, during the first half of the first home conference game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Arkansas Razorbacks are confident they have the depth to sustain an SEC Tournament run this week in Bridgestone Arena with 12 players averaging between 27.9 and 9.0 minutes.

“We’re built to play basketball this time of year,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “We utilize a lot of guys during the early part of the season. Now they’re more tested and ready.

“We’re hard to scout because of our style of play. We’ll adjust, but we won’t back up.”

For the Razorbacks (19-12) to take advantage of their depth, they have to beat Vanderbilt (14-16) when the teams open against each other tonight in the SEC Tournament’s second round. The winner will advance to a quarterfinal game against Kentucky on Friday night.

“Our bench can help carry us, but the only way we can do that is if we’re winning,” Arkansas junior guard Mardracus Wade said. “We’ve got to find a way to win this first game.”

Winning the first game in the SEC Tournament has been a problem for Arkansas. The Razorbacks have lost their opener four consecutive years in four different cities - to Florida at Tampa in 2009, to Georgia in Nashville in 2010, to Tennessee in Atlanta in 2011 and to LSU in New Orleansin 2012.

Arkansas’ last SEC Tournament victories came in 2008 in Atlanta, when the Razorbacks beat Vanderbilt and Tennessee before losing to Georgia in the championship game.

No current Razorback has experienced an SEC Tournament victory.

“It’s been very frustrating, but it’s also been a learning experience,” Wade said. “I think we finally have a team that’s capable of advancing, and that’s exciting.

“I know the state of Arkansas has been waiting for this day to come for a long time, and now it’s here and we’ve just got to perform and do what we do best.”

Sophomore g uard BJ Young and junior forward Marshawn Powell, the Razorbacks’ All-SEC second-team players, said they don’t want to dwell on past SEC Tournament failures.

“We really can’t focus on those games we lost, because we can’t do nothing about it,” Young said. “We can only focus on the future and getting better.”

Powell said thinking too much about the Razorbacks’ four-game SEC Tournament losing streak “can ultimately hold us back” for tonight’s game.

“We just want to go into it and try to win it like we do every game,” Powell said.

Tonight will be the first SEC Tournament game for Arkansas junior forward Coty Clarke, a junior college transfer, but he knows about the losing streak.

“We’ve got to end that streak to move forward with the plans we’ve made, but our mind-set is to win this first one,” Clarke said. “We can’t do anything until we do that.”

The Razorbacks, who finished seventh in the SEC regular-season race with a 10-8 record, know to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008 they need to win the SEC Tournament - with four victories in four days - to gain the conference’s automatic bid.

“I’m used to success. I love this time of year,” said Anderson, who led Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri tosix NCAA Tournament appearances in nine seasons and was an Arkansas assistant when the Razorbacks made 13 NCAA appearances in a 17-year span. “Last year I was disappointed in exiting the [SEC] Tournament as fast as we did.

“Hopefully, we’ve got a better grasp of it this year and can come out and perform.”

The Razorbacks are 18-1 at home but 1-11 in out-of-stategames including 1-9 on the road and 0-2 in Las Vegas, where they lost to Arizona State and Wisconsin.

How does Anderson instill his players with the confidence they can win away from home?

“I don’t think this team ever lacked confidence,” Anderson said. “Sometimes we may lack execution, but not confidence. You’ve got to find a way to finish. You’ve got to make plays.”

Young said the Razorbacks are confident about the chances of winning the SEC Tournament.

“This is a game we love to play, and we like new challenges, and this is a neutral site,” Young said. “Really, noone is at home. It’s a great opportunity for our ballclub to come out here and show that we’ve improved from the first game through the season.”

Vanderbilt’s players, who beat the Razorbacks 67-49 at Memorial Gym after losing at Arkansas 56-33, said they don’t pay attention to the struggles away from home.

“I wouldn’t think about that too much,” Commodores sophomore guard Kedren Johnson said. “It’s the SEC Tournament. You don’t really know what’s going to happen.”

“You can’t play by the numbers,” Vanderbilt junior forward Rod Odom said. “I’m sure they’re going to come out and play hard like they always do.”

Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings - who told his players, “Be careful with that one” when they were asked about Arkansas’ record away from home - stressed thereis no extra confidence for the Commodores playing the Razorbacks in downtown Nashville, just a few miles from the Vanderbilt campus.

“If you know and understand anything about coaches, we know no such thing as comfort level,” Stallings said.

Kentucky has two byes and will be rested going into its matchup against the Arkansas-Vanderbilt winner, but the Razorbacks - if they advance - should be relatively fresh considering how many players they’ll likely use tonight.

“You’ll see it come into play if we make it to the second or third day,” Powell said. “It’s hard for guys to play big minutes against big-time competition.”

Wade said he believes the Razorbacks are better equipped to handle the pressure of the SEC Tournament now than in past seasons. He also has felt the team’s addedsense of urgency in practice.

“In this tournament either you win or you go home, and that’s a lot on us,” Wade said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a little more fight in us to get the job done.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 03/14/2013