Live Game Blog: No. 7 Texas vs. Arkansas
Arkansas 67, No. 7 Texas 61 (FINAL)
Arkansas played an entertaining second half to rip this one away from Texas. Courtney Fortson and Michael Washington, who both struggled with fouls in the first half, really stepped up in the final 6 minutes for the Hogs.
John Pelphrey glares at a referee after a foul on Arkansas Tuesday. The Hogs were in foul trouble early in the first half but battled through in the second half to pull off a 67-61 win over No. 7 Texas. (Times Photo/Anthony Reyes)
Washington's dunk with 22.5 seconds remaining with a cut to the lane drew a foul from Damion James. The junior's free throw put away the game with a 65-61 lead the Hogs never relinquished.
Fortson didn't have his greatest night. Five assists and 6 turnovers certainly doesn't stick out, but his movement of the ball and attacking of the basket in the final minutes gave Arkansas plenty to cheer about. He finished with 13 points and scored 8 of those in the second half on circus shots and at the free throw line, where he usually struggles, hitting 7-of-10.
As I said at halftime (before the Internet cut out and we were unable to update for the remainder of the game), one team was going to start heating up from the field. And that team was Arkansas. The Hogs hit just 29.4 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes but hit a blistering 14-of-28 shots in the second half.
Here are some quotables for 'ya:
"I think John (Pelphrey) has done a good job with this team," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "They played hard and they really understand their roles. They hung in there and made the plays they needed to make down the stretch. We didn't make those kinds of plays and that is what it really comes down to. We broke down at the end defensively and, offensively, we lost the ball too many times — plain and simple. You have to make the plays in the open court and we didn't do that tonight."
And what about Arkansas coach John Pelphrey, who sported a red blazer that drew a few gleeful chuckles from his players in pre-game?
"I just wanted to touch it," Fortson smirked.
"Coming out in the second half we thought if we could run our game and get our shots, we could win," Pelphrey said. "It was a battle of two good teams and we were fortunate to win. It was a defensive battle and with 20,000 people behind us, that put us over the edge. Razorback Nation really helped us out. We couldn't have won without them."
Arkansas will enjoy this one for a little bit, but return to practice soon to prepare for Mississippi State, which starts the SEC season for the Hogs on Saturday.
No. 7 Texas 31, Arkansas 27
HALFTIME
9 p.m.: Arkansas has hit just 29.5 percent of its shot attempts. Texas' defense is something else but the Longhorns are also struggling from the field. If Arkansas could somehow find a way to score, this halftime score could be the Hogs up by 10 or more right now, honestly. Same for Texas.
Something tells me the pendulum will be swinging one of those ways before the night's over and one team will go away with a win close to double digits.
Here are some halftime stats:
Texas has missed all eight 3-point attempts. Arkansas has hit just 1-of-11. Rotnei Clarke 's 3-pointer with 15:05 remaining in the first half is the lone conversion.
Arkansas' Courtney Fortson has 5 turnovers and just 1 assist right now to go along with 2 fouls that had him benched for the middle part of the first half.
Texas is hitting 31.4 percent for m the field and is being lead by Gary Johnson with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Stefan Welsh has 8 to lead Arkansas.
I'll try to update more in the second half. But it all depends on the Internet on press row.
FIRST HALF
8:55 p.m.: Sorry for the lack of updates. The Internet, wireless and wired, is horrible on press row tonight. I just now got a signal. So, if there are any more delays, that's most likely the reason. It's 31-27 Texas right now with :46.7 remaining in the first half. Arkansas is shooting badly beyond the arc, hitting just 1-of-11 shots. Stefan Welsh has taken 11 shots. It's Texas' ball right now. They've missed all seven 3-point attempts. Very defensive ballgame so far.
8:15 p.m.: Rotnei Clarke 's 3-pointer at the 15:05 mark brought the house down and gave Arkansas a 13-6 lead. Back on defense, the Arkansas crowd got up and roared. It was one of the loudest I've heard here in quite some time.
Texas is moving the ball very well and getting some open shots but are just banking off the rim. They're 3-of-11 from the field. Arkansas is up 13-8 with 14:08 remaining. The biggest news here so far is that Courtney Fortson is already on the bench with two fouls. He was benched after a player control foul just 2:51 into the game.
PRE-GAME
7:14 p.m.: The student section is filled and featured prominently on the front row is Arkansas sophomore tight end D.J. Williams . The early bird is wearing a red No. 55 Razorbacks basketball jersey with a black cape and white bandana. He's showing some school spirit.
- Arkansas sophomore tight end D.J. Williams (45) looks up field after making a catch during the Hogs' win over Tulsa this season. (Times Photo/Andy Shupe)
Too bad he can't sit in one of the courtside seats. If a Texas player ran into him, I'm sure they'd just bounce off as they did on the football field this season.
6:27 p.m.: Made it to Bud Walton Arena a few minutes ago. Not as many people standing in line for tickets compared to last week's game against No. 4 Oklahoma. That might be because people bought more tickets beforehand and will pick up their tix at the Will Call window. Who knows. I'm sure this place will be loud and packed.
Check out my post from earlier today for probable starting lineups and other tidbits if you'd like as we approach game time.
– Brandon Marcello
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This was a gritty performance. Congratulations to the coaches and players for hanging tough through some adverse circumstances. Mike Washington is really showing me something. My evaluation of him early in the season was way off. He may like to play away from the basket, like he did last year, but he really is a good post player. I wish we could get some more shots for Rotnei, though, and a lot more free throws from him. With his reputation as a dead-eye shot, opponents aren't likely to leave him open in the half-court, so transition threes might be what he gets; we've just got to get in the transition game more often to get those shots for him. And any way we can get him to the free throw line will be bonus points for us. Stefan really held the team together while Courtney and Mike W. were on the bench in the 1st half. Great game, guys! Go Hogs!