A slow start to the first half doomed Texas basketball (15-8, 4-6 SEC) to a 78-70 loss on home court at the Moody Center to head coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks (14-8, 3-6 SEC) on Wednesday night.
Texas basketball drops its first home SEC contest to an unranked foe against rival Arkansas
Arkansas held a 35-24 lead over the Longhorns at halftime. Texas made a spirited second-half comeback to try and close the gap against Arkansas in the game's final minutes. The Longhorns were once down by 22 points almost at the midway point of the second half tonight.
Texas got the game within two possessions a few times down the stretch in the second half. That almost got the Longhorns close enough to push the game to overtime or potentially get a close comeback win over the Hogs.
With a little over 30 seconds left on the clock in the second half, Texas had the chance to cut Arkansas' lead down to one score for the first time since early in the first half. Texas quickly turned the ball over after freshman guard Tre Johnson had a pass from senior guard Julian Larry bounce off his leg and back into the hands of an Arkansas player resulting in two points on the other end of the floor.
Here are three takeaways from Texas's 78-70 loss to Arkansas at home at the Moody Center on Feb. 5.
Unable to play a full 40-minute game
Showing full effort and energy on both ends of the floor for a complete 40-minute game has been a recurring issue for the Longhorns in SEC play this year. Texas dug itself in a hole in the first half, falling behind Arkansas by a margin of 11 points by halftime tonight.
Texas turned the ball over eight times in the first half, resulting in double-digit points off turnovers for Arkansas. Free throws also made a big difference, with Arkansas making 11 more shots from the stripe than the Longhorns in the game's first 20 minutes.
I have to admit that Texas's effort and fight in the second half of this game was very impressive. Texas didn't give up until the game was well in the books in the dying seconds before the final buzzer. Senior bigs/forwards Arthur Kaluma and Kadin Shedrick really fought (including through a back injury for Shedrick in the second half) to get the Longhorns back within single digits late in the game.
Tre Johnson and Texas struggle shooting the basketball against Arkansas' stifling defense
In Texas's win over LSU in Baton Rouge last Saturday, the Longhorns lit up the offensive end, shooting the ball from downtown. Texas shot 10-of-21 from three-point range in the dominant 31-point victory over the Tigers over the weekend.
Arkansas' defense choked the life out of Texas's offense in the first half and early in the second. It wasn't until under the 13-minute mark of the second half that the Longhorns even reached the 30-point mark. Then, Texas went on a rampage in the game's final dozen minutes or so, scoring 40 points in that final span of the second half.
Texas shot the ball uncharacteristically poor from the mid-range and from beyond the arc tonight. The Longhorns, based at least on preliminary shot charts and tracking, shot under 35 percent on mid-range two-pointers. From beyond the arc, the Longhorns shot just 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) tonight.
Johnson had a big night scoring the ball in the second half. He scored a team-high 25 points, but did so on a large number of field goal attempts. Johnson shot 6-of-22 from the field and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Among his 25 points, Johnson scored 10 from the free-throw line tonight on a dozen attempts.
Vanderbilt a "must-win" game this Saturday?
Almost every game the Longhorns have remaining down the stretch is considered a Quad 1 win opportunity. Most teams in the SEC have an NCAA NET ranking in the top 75, meaning all road games and most at home in conference play down the stretch this regular season gives the Longhorns big chances of improving the resume for the NCAA Tournament and the selection committee next month.
If Texas can defeat a good Vanderbilt squad that has been a tough out on their home court in Nashville in SEC play in the past couple of months, that puts the Longhorns in a good spot to secure a spot in the tourney down the stretch. After the Vandy game this weekend, the Longhorns have back-to-back games at home against ranked opponents against Bama and Kentucky next week.