Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

1/11/2012 at 1:06pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas guard Mardracus Wade and the rest of his Razorback teammates are hoping to continue their recent home success on the road. They face Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. in Oxford, Miss.

FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Anderson is well aware of how difficult road life can be in the Southeastern Conference, even in his first season back at Arkansas.

The Razorbacks coach remembers all too well the struggles Arkansas faced on the road in the SEC, even when the program was one of the tops in the country.

Anderson just hopes his youthful collection of Razorbacks (12-3, 1-0 SEC) can keep their calm about them as they prepare for their conference opener at Mississippi (10-5, 0-1) on Wednesday night.

Arkansas is 12-0 at home in Bud Walton Arena this season but 0-3 away from home. That includes a loss to Houston in Little Rock, as well as road losses at Connecticut and Oklahoma.

The Razorbacks earned their first signature win over the Anderson era on Saturday when the opened a 20-point lead and made surprisingly easy work of No. 20 Mississippi State at home. Anderson is eager to see how Arkansas and its collection of nine scholarship players, including four freshmen, handle the success.

"Sometimes you get a little pat on the back and it sets you back, and I think with a young team that's what you've really got to be cautious about," Anderson said. "You want them to play with the confidence, you want them to feel good about themselves, but having an opportunity to back on the road ... It's going to be a little more difficult."

The Razorbacks are no strangers to road woes in the SEC, having finished a combined 6-26 away from home in conference play the last four seasons under former coach John Pelphrey. They haven't had a winning road record in the SEC since finishing as national runners-up under then coach Nolan Richardson during the 1994-95 season.

Anderson was in the middle of his 17-season tenure as an assistant coach at Arkansas during that season, just as he was a part of the final seven seasons under Richardson — when the Razorbacks failed to finish .500 on the road.

"When you get to conference play, that intensity and everything goes up another couple of notches," Anderson said. "The only way these guys are going to learn is they've got to experience it. We get a chance to experience it on Wednesday, going to Oxford." 

Arkansas shot nearly 57 percent in the win over the Bulldogs, with junior point guard Julysses Nobles scoring a career-high 24 points and freshman guard BJ Young adding 24. The Razorbacks, who lead the SEC by forcing 18.2 turnovers per game, also scored 23 points off 18 Mississippi State turnovers.

The Rebels, who give up an SEC-worst 16.1 turnovers per game, are well aware of what style of play Arkansas will bring.

"Arkansas, as we all know, is a pressure team and they want to pressure you into turnovers and speed up the game," Ole Miss assistant coach Sergio Rouco said. "We've got to prepare for that frenetic-type of basketball." 

Nobles said the win over the Bulldogs gave the Razorbacks a much-needed boost in confidence — even as they prepare to return to the road. He said Arkansas learned from its early road losses and has had time to mature since, adding that the team can't allow its past road woes affect this season's mindset.

"We were young early and weren't completely full as a team, but now we've been together so long, we can bring it together," Nobles said. "It will be a good test."

Anderson has warned the Razorbacks about putting too much stock in the win over Mississippi State, telling them to "keep it until midnight" and forget about it the following day.

The players said they've heeded Anderson's advice, but they'll see just how even-keeled they are against the Rebels.

"That (win) gave us great confidence in our team that we can beat other good teams, even though we're young," Young said. "We're still capable of taking on challenges and winning in big games, and that just gave us great confidence to let you know we can do anything as long as we stick together."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Tagged: Mardracus Wade, Mike Anderson, Ole Miss Rebels, Julysses Nobles, BJ Young, Michael Sanchez, Arkansas Razorabcks