ANTHONY REYES Northwest Arkansas Times Arkansas junior forward Michael Washington (00 ) grabs a rebound over Southeastern Louisiana junior center Patrick Sullivan (4 ) during the first half Friday Nov. 14 in Bud Walton Arena.

Normally you don’t go Ivy League via Aggies from California.

Nevertheless, John Pelphrey knows his Razorbacks (1-0) will get an Ivy League curriculum from the University of California-Davis (1-2) tonight. A Princeton curriculum to be exact in this 7 p.m. radio broadcast only nonconference game at Walton Arena.

“Their style of offense is a Princeton style offense with the ballhandling, spacing and 3-point shooting,” Pelphrey said. “Our guys will be blown away how hard they cut and drive. I hope not, but they will probably be surprised at how well these guys shoot the basketball from all five spots on the floor.”

Popularized by longtime former Princeton coach Pete Carril, whose Princeton Tigers nearly derailed Nolan Richardson’s 1990 Final Four Hogs from advancing beyond Round 1 of that NCAA Tournament, it’s an offense of incessant lull you to sleep ballhandling and passing suddenly striking like a cobra with an open 3-point shot or backdoor layup.

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“I don’t pretend to be Pete Carril,” Pelphrey said of dissecting what UC-Davis coach Gary Stewart’s Aggies do. “But I have a tremendous amount of respect for it. It is a style of play created with the simplicity and beauty of the spacing and the cutting, the true attributes of basketball and being able to capitalize on fundamental truths defensively.”

Those truths can turn on its head, the fundamental strengths of the 40 minutes of hell pressure defense that Richardson employed and Pelphrey seeks eventually to return in theory if not exact replica.

“You talk about pressure basketball and getting out and deny the wings, this offense loves that,” Pelphrey said. “The farther you go out and chase them, the more comfortable they are going to feel. You just are giving them more space to pass and cut.”

Seems a lot to throw at a young Razorback team that struggled defensively before overcoming Southeast Louisiana, 91-87 in overtime last Friday.

“It’s a tremendous challenge especially against guys who struggle to play defense the normal way,” Pelphrey said.

From what Pelphrey has seen of the Aggies’ three games, they are a tall team fitting the system. Even point guard Michael Payne stands 6-7. Aggies Joe Harden, a 6-8 transfer from Notre Dame 15. 3 points and 10. 3 rebounds and Payne apparently could fit any system.

“Harden and Payne can play a lot of places,” Pelphrey said. Most every Hog may guard Harden at some point.

“They put him ever ywhere,” Pelphrey said. “He shoots the ball from the 3-point line and may be their best post-up guy as well.”

UC-Davis suffered 61-58 and 81-75 losses to Iowa State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee at a tournament in Ames, Iowa, and then flew back to the West Coast to beat Loyola Marymount.

Arkansas counters with a star of its own. Michael Washington, the 6-9 junior forward from McGehee, was named SEC Player of the Week for his career high 30 points and 14-rebounds double-double against Southeast Louisiana with guards Courtney Fortson and Rotnei Clarke, junior guard Stefan Welsh and forward Michael Sanchez. Fortson scored 17 and dished out 7 assists and made 4 steals in his debut, but had 6 turnovers. Clarke scored 18 points, hitting five 3 -pointers and Sanchez grabbed 12 boards before fouling out. Other than sophomore guard Marcus Britt of Forrest City, 5 points, 2 steals and a rebound, and JC transfer forward Montrell McDonald, 7 points, 8 rebounds and a huge assist on Clarke’s key 3-pointer 25 seconds left in regulation, the Hogs got nothing from their bench against Southeast Louisiana.

“I thought those guys performed well,” Pelphrey said. “Britt came in and hit a big, huge shot and made two free throws. I trust Britt. You can put him at a lot of different spots. Always going to be there for us on the defensive side. I think Montrell is making a lot of progress. You are starting to see him cut loose and make some athletic aggressive plays. We need more than seven guys.”