Texas Basketball Loses to Arkansas in Rivalry Rematch

AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns got hit with an SEC-sized slap in the face on Wednesday at the Moody Center in a rivalry rematch with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Arkansas guard Johnell Davis finished with a team-high 24 points including a dagger 3-pointer in the closing minutes to lead the Razorbacks to a 78-70 win over Texas in the first meeting between the old rivals since 2018. The Longhorns trailed by as many as 23 in the second half and fought back to within five but it was too little too late for Texas against an Arkansas team that was coming off of an emotional win over Kentucky.

Texas guard Tre Johnson had 25 points, five rebounds and four assists while forward Arthur Kaluma finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Both Kadin Shedrick (back spasms) and Devon Pryor (calf strain) exited the game after getting banged up. Shedrick eventually returned but Pryor was ruled out.

“We just came out and kind of got punched in the mouth and didn’t respond,” Shedrick said. “I think that’s just what it kind of comes down to. We responded a little too late.”

Arkansas forward Adou Thiero tallied 14 points and five rebounds. D.J. Wagner added 13 points and four assists.

The Longhorns had been trending up following a 3-1 stretch that was highlighted by ranked wins over Texas A&M and Missouri but Wednesday’s loss now likely puts the team back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble with eight games to play in the regular season.

“To be honest guys, they missed a lot of shots that they normally make, but they missed them, and I was happy they missed them,” Arkansas head coach John Calipari said.

Arkansas out-muscled Texas from the jump, eventually building a 17-6 lead after an 11-0 run that featured some hounding defense from the Razorbacks. The Longhorns chipped back in with triples from Pope and Johnson to make it 24-17. Arkansas used a 6-0 run to push the lead back up to double digits before Texas answered again, as Johnson led a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 30-24 with 2:21 to play in the half.

The Longhorns were in position to close the half out strong but the Razorbacks got five free throws in the final 2:07 to take a 35-24 lead into halftime.

The Hogs hardly slowed down to begin the second half, as Davis hit two quick triples to build a 45-24 lead. The Longhorns were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half and didn’t hit their first field goal until 15:23 on a 3-pointer from Julian Larry. Arkansas

With a poster dunk from Shedrick and another 3-pointer from Johnson, Texas used a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 58-49 with 6:05 to play. Arkansas answered emphatically with a monster dunk from Thiero on Kaluma that ignited the Razorback fans in attendance.

The Longhorns cut it to within five points after a triple from Pope but the Razorbacks were able to close the game out at the foul line.

Texas will need to regroup quickly before heading to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday.