FAYETTEVILLE — Before Arkansas began the exhibition portion of its schedule, Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey was asked last week if he might put in five new players at a time.

“I plan on [substituting ] like a normal game,” Pelphrey said. “I certainly don’t anticipate running five guys in there unless — and I hope this doesn’t happen — the effort is just completely wrong.”

It happened early in the second half of the 19 th-ranked Razorbacks’ 96-56 victory over Campbellsville (Ky. ) College on Tuesday night before 8, 476 fans at Walton Arena.

While Arkansas won decisively, Pelphrey was displeased with his team’s effort early in the second half when the Razorbacks had two quick turnovers and allowed several offensive rebounds to the undersized Tigers.

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Pelphrey took out starters Patrick Beverley, Gary Ervin, Sonny Weems, Charles Thomas and Steven Hill and inserted Vincent Hunter, Darian Townes, Michael Washington, Stefan Welsh and Marcus Britt with 17: 53 remaining and Arkansas leading 52-26.

That didn’t help much initially as the Tigers, ranked No. 11 in the NAIA poll, pulled within 54-37 with two threepoint baskets by junior guard Marcus Nicks.

Pelphrey then gradually worked the starters back into the game, and Arkansas went on a 19-3 run, including 3 threepoint baskets by Beverley, to move ahead 75-40 with 9: 04 remaining.

Campbellsville didn’t pull closer than 29 points the rest of the game.

“I think we came out overconfident,” said Beverly, a sophomore guard who led the Razorbacks with 20 points but had 4 turnovers in 20 minutes. “We didn’t play up to our ability.

“ Our energy level was really down this game. We don’t want this to happen anymore. We have to learn from that mistake and realize that if we were playing a better team, we might have lost.”

Ervin, a senior point guard who had 13 points and six assists without a turnover, said the message Pelphrey sent to the starters with the second-half benching came through loud and clear.

“Coach Pelphrey is a very fiery guy, and when you’re not giving him what he wants, that type of thing can happen,” Ervin said. “He made his point, and when we came back in we had the intensity we should have been playing with from the start.”

The Razorbacks suffered a letdown after jumping to a 30-4 lead in the game’s first 10 minutes, but Pelphrey didn’t want to hear about that as an excuse for sloppy play.

“I’m not buying that one,” he said. “I’m not bailing those guys out.”

No Razorback played more than 24 minutes Tuesday night, and Pelphrey noted they’re all competing for playing time and positions while learning new systems on offense and defense.

“With as many people as we’re playing, minutes aren’t just coming to you,” Pelphrey said. “So we need to get out there and go.”

Pelphrey said he pulled the starters because he wanted players with more energy and enthusiasm giving consistent effort.

“I wanted to see a different team,” he said.

Tuesday night’s performance was in sharp contrast to the Razorbacks’ 117-43 victory over West Florida last Friday night in their exhibition opener.

“It wasn’t the same effort we got in the first exhibition game,” Pelphrey said. “I thought our effort and attitude was terrific throughout the first one; it wasn’t in this one.

“ For whatever reason, some of the guys weren’t ready to go. That’s something we’ve got to get rectified.”

Townes, a senior forward, had 18 points off the bench on 8-of-9 shooting. Weems added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and Washington had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in 11 minutes.

Most upsetting to Pelphrey was that Arkansas committed 21 turnovers even though Campbellsville never pressed full court on defense.

“We’ve got to make sure we understand how special it is to play here,” said Pelphrey, who makes his regular-season debut as Arkansas’ coach Friday night against Wofford. “Every time we take the court, it’s important to be ready to go at the highest level.

“ That doesn’t mean you’re going to play great all the time. But from an emotional standpoint, we’ve all got a responsibility to get ourselves to that magic level.”