FAYETTEVILLE — The more likely reality check seemed scheduled for next week, when Arkansas’ young basketball team travels to Missouri State and South Alabama.

But with seven newcomers on its roster, Arkansas struggled right away, falling behind Southeastern Louisiana of the Southland Conference for most of Friday night’s regular-season opener. Lackluster defense and sloppy offense by Arkansas marred much of the first 34 minutes, putting the Hogs’ streak of winning 34 straight home openers in serious jeopardy.

“I think it’s just that we’re young,” Arkansas freshman point guard Courtney Fortson said. “We needed to get a wake-up call.”

The Razorbacks responded in an uncharacteristic way considering their vast inexperience, rallying for a captivating 91-87 overtime victory before 11,500 fans in Bud Walton Arena.

Fortson and fellow freshman guard Rotnei Clarke rallied the Razorbacks in the last few minutes of regulation to force overtime. And junior forward Michael Washington scored seven of his career-high 30 points in the extra session to keep the Lions from beating their second SEC foe in four years.

Arkansas coach John Pelphrey certainly wasn’t thrilled by the Hogs’ collective inconsistency Friday night. The Razorbacks made only 24 of their 42 free throws and left Southeastern Louisiana shooters open for a majority of the contest.

But he couldn’t argue with the final result because, despite all the miscues, the Hogs willed themselves to a victory.

“I didn’t really know what type of heart we would have, and I thought that’s why we won,” Pelphrey said. “Guys just kept playing.”

Arkansas (1-0) trailed the entire second half until the final seconds of regulation, even after Clarke said Pelphrey told his players at halftime they “needed to play harder.” The Lions, who led by as many as nine, went up 76-70 with 1:40 left after Brandon Fortneberry drove the lane for a wide-open layup.

The Razorbacks’ freshman guards then sparked the comeback.

Fortson, who had 18 points and seven assists, converted a tough, hanging layup. After a missed layup by Warren Span, Clarke drilled a 3-pointer from the left-corner to cut the Lions lead to 76-75. And Fortson’s drive and layup tied the game at 77 with 8.7 seconds left.

“We just buckled down and never gave up,” said Clarke, who finished with 17 points. “We showed a lot of passion and fed off of our fans.”

Junior guard Stefan Welsh drew a charge with under three seconds left to set up overtime.

By then, it didn’t matter that Arkansas had failed to adaquately guard the Lions for long periods early on. It didn’t matter that the Razorbacks had missed 12 of their 26 free throw tries. Nor did it matter that Arkansas’ supposedly up-tempo offense had produced only seven fast-break points.

Five free throws and a dunk by Washington, who fought through back cramps, sealed a memorable debut for seven Arkansas rookies and a painful trip home for the Lions.

“Well, this game is a good news, bad news type of game,” Southeastern Louisiana coach Jim Yarbrough said. “You can’t be too disappointed. But yeah, the guys are down, because they knew they could have won.”

Pelphrey knows that all too well. But he at least appreciates that he can “yell at these guys after a win” as the Razorbacks gear up for their second game against California-Davis on Thursday night.

Then again, even if Arkansas had lost in overtime, Pelphrey would have learned about his players’ desire.

“We showed some heart. We kept playing,” Pelphrey said. “I don’t know if we deserved to win or if we played better than those guys or not. But at the end of the day, we had more points than they did and that’s all matters.

“We’re not giving it back.”