Strong first half helps Arkansas closing Texas

Johnell Davis equalized a seasonal hill 24 points, Arkansas’ defense held Texas to 24 first half points, and the rising Razorbacks correlated Longhorn’s 78-70 Wednesday night in Austin, Texas.

At the first meeting since 2018 between the former Southwest Conference rivals, Razorbacks (14-8, 3-6 sec) held an 11-point half-time advantage and never let for the third time in four games.

Adou Thiero had 14 points and five rebounds, while DJ Wagner scored 13. Zvonimir Ivisic had nine points, a career high 12 rebounds and four blocks.

A 6 1/2 point underdog, Arkansas raised its leading series lead over Texas to 88-68.

Hosting of Arkansas in the state capital of the first since the 2010-11 season, Longhorns (15-8, 4-6) fought offensively and hit 22 of 64 shots (34.4 percent).

Three Johnson made up 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Arthur Kaluma had 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Kadin Shedrick noted 10 points and eight boards.

Visitors pulled in front of 12-6 on a steal and exclaimed dunk from Davis at. 13:31, while Texas had shooting-estate and missed 6 of 9 attempts.

Arkansas sprinted out on an 11-0 race in just over four minutes, punctured by Thieros Fastbreak Slam at. 10:51 for a 17-6 edge.

After an 89-79 road romp of No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday, Arkansas played a strong first 20 minutes by making 10 of 22 shots and 13 of 18 free throw to lead 35-24 at the break.

Meanwhile, Texas couldn’t reproduce what it did at LSU Saturday in an 89-58 route. Johnson noted seven points as Longhorns matched their lowest output in half this season.

In the second half, Davis preserved a few treys to set up razorbacks with 19, while the website was caught in a cold stretch of 14 evenly unanswered shots and finally drawn by 23 points.

Longhorns cut the deficit to 58-49 on a 12-0 race, cut it to five with 51.5 seconds left on Jordan Pope’s Corner Trey, but couldn’t get any closer.

-Felt level media