Johnell Davis netted a season-high 24 points, Arkansas’ defense held Texas to 24 first-half points, and the rising Razorbacks corralled the Longhorns 78-70 Wednesday night in Austin, Texas.
In the first meeting since 2018 between the former Southwest Conference rivals, the Razorbacks (14-8, 3-6 SEC) held an 11-point halftime advantage and never let up in winning for the third time in four games.
Arkansas’ Adou Thiero had 14 points and five rebounds, while D.J. Wagner scored 13. Zvonimir Ivisic had nine points, a career-high 12 rebounds and four blocks.
A 6 1/2-point underdog, Arkansas upped its all-time series lead over Texas to 88-68.
Hosting Arkansas in the state capital for the first since the 2010-11 season, the Longhorns (15-8, 4-6) struggled on offense and hit 22 of 64 shots (34.4 percent).
Tre Johnson totaled 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Arthur Kaluma had 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Kadin Shedrick notched 10 points and eight boards.
The visitors pulled ahead 12-6 on a steal and breakaway dunk by Davis at 13:31, while Texas had shooting woes and missed 6 of 9 tries.
Arkansas sprinted out on an 11-0 run in just over four minutes, punctuated by Thiero’s fastbreak slam at 10:51 for a 17-6 edge.
After an 89-79 road romp of No. 12 Kentucky Saturday, Arkansas played a strong first 20 minutes by making 10 of 22 shots and 13 of 18 free throws to lead 35-24 at halftime.
Meanwhile, Texas could not reproduce what it did at LSU Saturday in an 89-58 rout. Johnson notched seven points as the Longhorns matched their lowest output for a half this season.
In the second half, Davis canned a pair of treys to put the Razorbacks up by 19, while the home side was caught in a cold stretch of 14 straight missed shots and eventually trailed by 23 points.
The Longhorns slashed the deficit to 58-49 on a 12-0 run, cut it to five with 51.5 seconds left on Jordan Pope’s corner trey but could get no closer.
–Field Level Media
