Coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks (14-8, 3-6 SEC) are officially on a winning streak after defeating the Texas Longhorns, 78-70, on Wednesday at the Moody Center.
Arkansas opened the game with good defensive pressure, as it held Texas to 33.3% shooting by the first media timeout. In that same span, the Razorbacks — thanks to six DJ Wagner points — hit 3-of-5 attempts to lead, 8-6.
Later in the half, the Hogs held a 12-6 advantage behind four steals (two from Johnell Davis) and four buckets. However, Arkansas had still not hit from distance on three attempts.
Texas finally ended Arkansas' run out of the timeout, but that didn't stop the Hogs from extending their lead. After made threes by Wagner and Karter Knox, and more impressive defense from Davis, the Razorbacks led 22-12 with 7:11 minutes left in the first half.
With 2:33 minutes remaining before halftime, Wagner (nine points) and Davis (eight points) led the Hogs in scoring, while star Texas freshman guard Tre Johnson started to get going with seven points on six attempts. Both teams were shooting a combined 4-of-17 from beyond the arc.
The back-and-forth continued between the Razorbacks and Longhorns, but Arkansas held onto its lead thanks to Thiero's aggressiveness and willingness to get fouled for free throws. At half, the Hogs led 35-24.
Arkansas, and more notably, Davis, started the second half on absolute fire. In less than two and half minutes out of the half, the former Florida Atlantic transfer launched and converted two threes to help extend the team's lead to 19 over Texas.
The Razorbacks held serve for most of the second half, but a small Texas surge made things interesting around the 7:04 minute mark, with the Longhorns down, 58-44, following two free throws. One Texas dunk later, and the Longhorns were on a 9-0 run.
Despite a valiant Longhorns run that got the deficit down to five points, Arkansas held on in Austin.
Leading the way for Arkansas was Davis, who finished with 24 points and four triples. Thiero added 14 points and Wagner scored 13 as well. Big man Zvonimir Ivisic scored nine points and collected a team-high 12 rebounds to top things off.
Below are game highlights and social media reactions from Arkansas' conference victory...
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