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Game Preview: Texas looks to avoid a season sweep by Arkansas

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•about 9 hours•

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Rodney Terry
Rodney Terry (Scott Wachter-Imagn Images)

During the course of Texas’ 18-game Southeastern Conference schedule, the Longhorns play three teams twice: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

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The Longhorns split the season series with the Aggies, losing in College Station but winning with a come-from-behind effort in Austin. Texas won 77-73 at Oklahoma in early January and will matchup with the Sooners to end the regular season.

On Wednesday, Texas will face Arkansas for the second time and will do so in Fayetteville. While playing at Bud Walton Arena, the Longhorns will look to avoid a season sweep at the hands of their old Southwest Conference rival.

On February 5, the Razorbacks beat Texas 78-70, though the contest was not as close as the final score seems to indicate. John Calipari‘s team shot 44 percent from the field, 41 percent from three, and 77 percent from the free throw line. Arkansas committed only nine turnovers and went to the free throw line a staggering 35 times.

That was within the friendly confines of the Moody Center, which wasn’t as friendly a few weeks ago. Enough Arkansas fans were in Austin to where there were more people calling the Hogs than yelling Texas Fight at the end of the 40 minutes.

Wednesday night, Bud Walton Arena will be filled with Razorbacks fans ready to see their team sweep the Longhorns in conference play for the first time since 1989-90.

“It’s one of the great venues in college basketball,” head coach Rodney Terry said earlier this week. “Arkansas has got a great fan base. They come out and they get behind their team. They make it really challenging in terms of the students are great with the energy they bring to their building as well. We’ve been over there when that building is rocking. I can’t recall a time that we’ve gone over there and they haven’t sold the building out when we were playing. It’s a great rivalry to have back in college athletics when we get a chance to go over and compete against a team playing really well in our conference right now.”

Texas’ last road trip was a shocking 84-69 loss to South Carolina. It went down as the first SEC win of the year for the Gamecocks. USC jumped out to an early lead and carried a 40-22 advantage into the break. Despite Texas’ best efforts in the second 20 minutes, the Horns still fell by 15.

On Wednesday, Terry knows that a good start is needed in Fayetteville, but it’s needed as part of a full 40 minute effort that was not delivered to Columbia, S.C.

“I always tell our guys whether you get off to a good start or a bad start in the game, you’ve got to still work this game for 40 minutes,” Terry said. “We’ve got really good teams in this league. We’ve got really good coaches in this league. No team is going to come in and knock a team right out in the first four, 10 minutes of the game. You’re going to have an opportunity to continue to work your way back into the game if you just stay the course, put together consecutive stops, and execute on offense.”

At last check, Texas was labeled as one of the last four teams in the tournament in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology. That status could potentially send them to Dayton as part of the First Four, considered in the eyes of many fans as something less than a real NCAA Tournament appearance.

With that being the Longhorns’ current situation, a growing segment of the fan base is becoming more and more disappointed with the fact that the Longhorns could miss the tournament for the first time since 2019 (there was no Tournament held in 2020). Criticism of Terry is at an all-time high, but Terry isn’t letting that affect how he coaches his team as it gets ready to head to Arkansas.

“Outside noise– I always tell our guys to live where your feet are, control what you can control,” Terry said. “We’re going to play in a hostile environment, a great environment in college basketball on Wednesday night. That environment is not going to score one basket. It’s not going to get one stop. We’re going to have to execute, and the guys on the floor are going to decide the outcome of that game in terms of how hard you play, what kind of mindset you’re going to have, and the execution you’re going to have. You can control what you control.”

Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Game notes via UT

GameDay Quick Facts

  • TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2 with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Ron Slay (analyst) on the call.
  • RADIO: The Longhorn Radio Network broadcasts every UT game on the statewide network. Craig Way (pxp) and Eddie Oran (analyst) will call the action. Check TexasSports.com for a listing of affiliates carrying the game. Compass Media Networks will broadcast the game nationally with Kyle Youmans (pxp) and Mike Wozniak (analyst) on the call.
  • SERIES: Arkansas leads, 88-68. Last meeting: Arkansas 78-70 (Feb. 5, 2025; Austin)

Notables

  • SECOND TIME IN THREE WEEKS: Wednesday’s contest marks the second matchup in the last 21 days between the two former Southwest Conference rivals. The Razorbacks will play host to the Longhorns in Fayetteville for the first time since the 2009-10 season. 
  • FAB FROSH: Freshman G Tre Johnson leads the SEC in scoring (20.2 ppg) entering Wednesday’s contest. Over his last three games, Johnson is averaging 28.3 ppg while hitting 31-of-64 (.484) from the floor and 15-of-16 (.938) free throws.
  • SHEDRICK’S BLOCK PARTY: Graduate F Kadin Shedrick set a season high with five blocks (one shy of his career high) on Saturday at South Carolina. Shedrick leads the team and ranks in a tie for third in the SEC in blocks per game (1.78 bpg).

2024-25 Texas Longhorns

Tre Johnson, 6-foot-6, 190 lbs, Fr., Link Academy (Mo.), 20.2 pts, 3.2 reb, 2.5 ast

Arthur Kaluma, 6-foot-7, 225 lbs, Sr., Kansas State, 12.7 pts, 7.8 reb, 1.9 ast

Jordan Pope, 6-foot-2, 175 lbs, Jr., Oregon State: 10.9 pts, 1.7 reb, 1.7 ast

Tramon Mark, 6-foot-5, 200 lbs, Gr., Arkansas: 9.6 pts, 3.5 reb, 1.5 ast

Kadin Shedrick, 6-foot-11, 231 lbs, Gr.: 8.4 pts, 6.3 reb, 0.6 ast

Chendall Weaver, 6-foot-3, 180 lbs, Jr.: 6.7 pts, 5.1 reb, 1.5 ast

Julian Larry, 6-foot-3, 185 lbs, Gr., Indiana State: 5.3 pts, 1.6 reb, 3.6 ast

Jayson Kent, 6-foot-8, 215 lbs, Gr., Indiana State: 5.3 pts, 2.6 reb, 0.5 ast

Devon Pryor, 6-foot-7, 185 lbs, So.: 3.6 pts, 2.3 reb, 0.6 ast

Ze’Rik Onyema, 6-foot-9, 235 lbs, Sr.: 3.6 pts, 2.8 reb, 0.4 ast

Nic Codie, 6-foot-8, 200 lbs, Fr., Dallas (Texas) Newman Smith: 1.9 pts, 0.9 reb, 0.1 ast

Jamie Vinson, 6-foot-11, 225 lbs, Fr., Oak Hill Academy (Va.): 2.2 pts, 1.1 rebs, 0.1 ast

Cole Bott, 6-foot-6, 195 lbs, Gr. (walk-on): 0.7 pts, 0.3 rebs, 0.5 ast

Preston Clark, 6-foot-6, 220 lbs, R-So. (walk-on): 0.3 pts, 1.5 rebs, 0.3 ast

Malik Presley, 6-foot-6, 200 lbs, So., Vanderbilt

Anthon McDermott, 6-foot-5, 185 lbs, Fr., Hallsville (Texas) (walk-on)

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Previous game’s starters for Arkansas

G Johnell Davis: 10.6 pts, 3.5 reb, 1.7 ast

G DJ Wagner: 10.5 pts, 2.9 reb, 3.5 ast

F Adou Thiero: 15.6 pts, 6.0 reb, 2.0 ast

F Karter Knox: 7.6 pts, 3.3 reb, 0.7 ast

F Zvonimir Ivisic: 9.6 pts, 4.4 reb, 0.8 ast

Sixth man Jonas Aidoo: 4.8 pts, 3.9 reb, 0.6 ast

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