FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas travels to Dallas to play Texas Tech on Wednesday at 9:05 p.m. in a game televised by ESPN2. Arkansas is 8-2 following Saturday’s 80-61 victory over Rice. Texas Tech is 6-5, but recently had a couple of players come back after being out with injuries. Following is a partial transcript of head coach Stan Heath’s press conference.

            “After becoming aware of the history of Arkansas basketball in Dallas in the Southwest Conference with Barnhill South, I wanted to schedule a game down there. When this finally worked out, it sounded great at the time, but playing Texas Tech, it’s equally or more so a home-neutral site for them.

            “They have been going through some struggles. This will be their second game where they will have their entire team. They had some big guys who had not played since the preseason NIT.

            “They are very good in their motion offense. They are fundamentally sound. They will be really up for this game. We can’t be celebrating Christmas. We have to play an A-type game.

            “We went hard today. We made progress in the second half of our last game. Rebounding, we were up 11; we controlled the tempo, forced turnovers and made shots.”

Facing Bobby Knight:

            “I can’t see a player thinking about Bobby Knight. I think they think about the players and the teams they are playing. Once the ball is tossed up, they’re thinking about that team. I’m concerned about Jarrius Jackson and Martin Zeno. I have a lot of respect for Coach Knight. He’s a great coach and I know they will be prepared. It’s my job to make sure we’re ready to play.”

Rebounding:

            “We finally got after it in the second half (against Rice). We are one of the top teams in the league in steals, so we don’t have as many opportunities to get rebounds, but we don’t go after offensive rebounds the way we should.

            “Guys find a niche and their role. Jonathon Modica as a freshman and Ronnie Brewer as a freshman lived on the glass. As they got older, they changed their games and they don’t think about doing it. I have a freshman who likes doing it and I’m going to find him some minutes. Some of those others guys should figure it out when they start losing some minutes. Cyrus (McGowan) practiced good today and he has for the last week-and-a-half.

            “I’m going to play the guys who can help us win.”