FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has won 45 consecutive nonconference games in Walton Arena, but making it 46 against Morgan State at 7 tonight doesn’t figure to be easy.
Morgan State (3-1) played Louisville much closer on the Cardinals’ home court than the Razorbacks (2-1) did on a neutral court in St. Louis.
Louisville beat the Bears90-81 at Freedom Hall on Sunday, and Morgan State was within 74-67 with 5:23 to play.
The Cardinals beat the Razorbacks 99-69 at Scottrade Center last Tuesday night, pulling away after Arkansas closed within 48-45 early in the second half.
“They’re so good they’re going to get our attention regardless,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said of the Bears. “But when you go into Freedom Hall and play those guys to nine points, and knowing what our score was with them, there’s no doubt about that.”
Morgan State is the preseason favorite to win the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference title again after going 23-12 last season and playing in the NCAA Tournament, where the Bears lost in the first round to Oklahoma 82-54.
Two season ago, Morgan State finished 22-11 and lost a first-round NIT game at Virginia Tech 94-62.
The Bears are 19-16 in road games over the past three seasons, including victories last year at DePaul (75-71) and Maryland (66-65). This season they’ve won at Albany (69-65) and Maryland-Baltimore County (72-57).
“You start looking at the number of road games they’ve played the last three years and the record they’ve got, it’s pretty impressive,” Pelphrey said.
Morgan State is coached by Todd Bozeman, who has a 71-42 record in his fifth season.
Bozeman previously coached at California, where he led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances - including a victory over two-time defending national champion Duke in 1993 - before losing his job amidst an NCAA investigation and later admitted to paying the family of guard Jelani Gardner.
Morgan State hired Bozeman after he was out of college coaching for an NCAA mandated eight years, a time Bozeman spent working as an NBA assistant and scout.
“Obviously, Todd has done a very good job there,” Pelphrey said.
The Bears are led by 6-4 senior guard Reggie Holmes, who is averaging 21.3 points. He scored nine points at Louisville before fouling out in 16 minutes, but Morgan State got 21 points from 6-8 freshman DeWayne Jackson and 16 points and 13 rebounds from 6-8 sophomore Kevin Thompson.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Pelphrey said.
Four Bears fouled out against Louisville, which hit 33 of 41 free throws compared to 18 of 24 by Morgan State.
“Obviously, if a team shoots 41 free throws, they’re going to be tough to beat,” Bozeman said after the game. “Free throws kind of beat us up. When you’re on the road, sometimes that happens.”
The Razorbacks haven’t lost a nonconference game in Walton Arena since Dec. 22, 2004, when Western Carolina beat them 62-59 in overtime.
Arkansas has gone to overtime three times to keep the streak alive, beating Southern Illinois 61-53 during the 2006-2007 season, Southeastern Louisiana 91-87 last season and Appalachian State 81-72 last Friday night.
The Razorbacks led the Mountaineers 21-4 in the first half, but fell behind 53-51 in the second half and couldn’t hang onto a seven-point lead in the final minutes of regulation.
Appalachian State Coach Buzz Peterson, who previously coached at Tennessee, said he can relate to what Pelphrey and the Razorbacks are going through facing teams from non-major conferences.
“The fans aren’t into it, your guys aren’t very motivated to go against a mid- to lower-conference school,” Peterson said. “As a coach, it drives you nuts.
“If I had to talk to John, I’d say, ‘Hey, look, learn from this. Morgan State may be better than us, so you’ve got to get your guys ready for it.’ ”
Sports, Pages 15 on 11/24/2009