AUSTIN, Texas — All you need to know is Arkansas beat the hated Texas Longhorns on the road, 78-70, on Wednesday night. Just overlook the fact they turned a 23-point lead into nearly a nail-biter in the second half.
And Razorbacks fans can stop squirming. They may be seeing what they expected when John Calipari was hired away from Kentucky last April.
Whatever was done in practices before the win over Kentucky last Saturday seems to have carried over. Arkansas is playing with more confidence and closing out games similar to what they were losing earlier in SEC play.
The Hogs used a 15-0 run from the end of the first half (2:21) to the start of the second half (15:25) to tun a six-point lead into a 21-point cushion (45-24). However, the Longhorns made a serious run late in the second half only the Razorbacks made some key plays down the stretch to win 78-70.
After Arkansas built that 21-point lead, Texas went on a 12-0 run to make the score 58-49 in the Hogs’ favor. Adou Thiero ended the spurt with a dunk. Later, Texas got to within eight before Johnell Davis hit a 3-pointer with 3:20 left, the first of several big plays down the stretch.
The Longhorns worked its deficit to six (67-61) after two free throws with 1:27 left. Karter Knox immediately answered with two from the stripe for Arkansas. Julian Pope responded with a 3-pointer to make it a five-point game with 51 seconds remaining.
Davis was immediately fouled and he sank both free throws. Arkansas got a stop and was fouled. Arkansas missed its free throws but Davis came through with a steal with 30 seconds left on the clock. D.J. Wagner was fouled and made both to put the game out of reach.
Billy Richmond III sealed the win with a blocked shot with 23 ticks remaining. Later, Richmond hit two free throws with eight seconds left to provide the 78-70 final.
Davis played well for the third-straight game as he scored a season-high 24 points with four steals. Zvonimir Ivisic had a career-high 12 rebounds while adding four blocked shots. Thiero, who was playing with an illness, finished with 14 points with all four of his field goals (4-of-5) being dunks. Wagner had 13 points.
Tre Johnson led the Longhorns with 25 points.
Arkansas returns home to host #3 Alabama on Saturday (Feb. 8). As a reminder, gametime has been moved back 30 minutes to a 7:30 pm (CT) start.
FIRST HALF: Arkansas 35, Texas 24
• Texas won the tip and scored first. However, with the score tied at 6-6, Arkansas went on a 6-0 run and held the lead the rest of the first half.
• The Razorbacks took their largest lead of 13 (30-17) after a Johnell Davis layup.
• Texas answered with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to six (30-24).
• From that point, Arkansas lived at the line, specifically Adou Thiero going 5-of-10. While Arkansas did not make a field goal over the final 3:42, it pushed the lead to 35-24 thanks to its free throws. On the other end, Texas did not score over the final 2:32 of the first half.
• D.J. Wagner led Arkansas with nine first-half points. Johnell Davis added eight and Adou Thiero seven.
• Arkansas out-rebounded Texas 18-15.
• The Hogs had seven assists on 10 made baskets.
Information from Arkansas Sports is included in this story.