NORMAN, Okla. — Arkansas ’ 1994 NCAA championship team won one fewer road game than the Razorbacks have the previous five years combined.

The 1993-1994 Razorbacks were 8-2 on the road, losing at Alabama and Mississippi State.

Since the 2002-2003 season, Arkansas is 9-37 on the road.

Last season was especially tough on the Razorbacks, who went 1-9 in road games, winning only their regular-season finale at Vanderbilt.

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“Everything that happened on the road to us last season, we’ve put that way behind us,” Arkansas senior forward Sonny Weems said. “We have a different coaching staff, we have some new players.

“ What happened in the past is over with. We’ve just got to focus on now.”

The Razorbacks (8-1 ) play their first road game this season when they take on Oklahoma (7-3 ) at 2 p. m. today in Lloyd Noble Center.

Arkansas played three games earlier this season in the Puerto Rico Shootout, but that was on a neutral court.

“We’re hungry to get a lot of road wins,” Razorbacks senior point guard Gary Ervin said. “That’s something we didn’t do last year. We know in order to be a great team, we have to win on the road.”

First-year Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey was at South Alabama the previous five seasons.

“Certainly at South Alabama this wouldn’t be our first road game [on Dec. 15 ],” Pelphrey said, referring to the guarantee games teams such as the Jaguars play in November and December. “We would have had more road games than home.

“ So it’s time.”

Oklahoma (7-3 ) hasn’t played since losing at home to Stephen F. Austin, 66-62, last Saturday.

“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed,” Sooners Coach Jeff Capel said. “Stephen F. Austin beat us in every facet of the game, and you have to give them credit.

“ I’m sure we’re anxious to get back out on the floor against Arkansas.”

Before playing Stephen F. Austin, the Sooners had beaten TCU 90-66 and Tulsa 81-55. Their only two losses had been to nationally ranked Memphis and Southern California.

“Guys were reading stuff about themselves and you start to maybe think you’re a little bit better than you are,” Capel said. “One of the things I talked to our team about after the Tulsa game was that all we’d done was win two in a row.

“ Now, we’d won them by a convincing margin, but all we had done was win two games in a row. It’s no big deal.

“ But when you haven’t had a lot of success as a team, as a player, which a lot of these guys haven’t, how do you deal with it ? Especially when everyone is telling you how good you are.

“ We didn’t deal with it well. We didn’t come hungry.

“ Stephen F. Austin had won four in a row. They’d won two on the road. They came hungry.... The team that was hungrier, the team that was more determined, won the game.”

Oklahoma has averaged 8, 882 fans for its first six home games, and today’s crowd figures to be affected by the wintry weather that has hit the area in recent days.

But Oklahoma’s athletic department has taken steps to bolster the crowd for the game, which will be nationally televised on ESPN 2.

There will be $ 5 tickets available for fans and Oklahoma students have free admission.

The Sooners’ Big 12 champion football team will be on hand to sign autographs for an hour before tipoff and is being honored on the court at halftime.

“It’s going to be a hostile environment,” Arkansas senior forward Charles Thomas said. “Obviously, we’re going to be tested in the SEC, so it’s a good test for us to go to Oklahoma and try to get a W over there. We know they’ll come out fired up.”

The Sooners haven’t lost two consecutive nonconference home games in 27 years, since being beaten three in a row by Tulsa, Lamar and Ohio Northern during the 1980-1981 season.

“If I had to venture a guess, I’d say those guys would be a little ornery wanting to get back on the right track,” Pelphrey said.

“They’re looking for revenge, and I think they’re going to try and take it out on us,” Weems said. “We know they’re going to play well at home. We’ve just got to match their intensity.”

That was a problem on the road for the Razorbacks last season. Often after absorbing a road setback, they’d talk about how the other team wanted the game more.

“We’re going to do a lot better on the road this year,” Weems said. “We have that mind-set.”