In the final regular-season road game, the Texas Longhorns travel to Fayetteville on Wednesday to face off against the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks.
Currently third place in the SEC and at a five seed in the brackets tracked by BracketMatrix.com, Arkansas is humming under second-year head coach John Calipari. Now 67, Calipari departed Lexington after diminishing returns over his last four seasons at Kentucky, raising questions about whether the game had passed by one of the most successful coaches of the modern
era.
So far, the answer from Calipari has been forceful after taking the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 this season and positioning his team for postseason success once again with an 11-5 record in SEC play and a No. 20 ranking in adjusted efficiency and the NET rankings with five Quad 1 wins.
At Bud Walton Arena, Arkansas has been close to unbeatable this season with a 15-1 record. The only blemish is an 85-77 loss to Kentucky in late January when Calipari’s team gave up 24 points to Otega Oweh, went 3-of-14 shooting from three, and missed opportunities at the free-throw line.
The Hogs are fueled by one of the nation’s most efficient offenses. At No. 24 nationally in adjusted tempo, Arkansas plays fast, but under control, leading the nation in turnover rate and scoring with efficiency inside and outside the arc, although the Razorbacks aren’t reliant on taking and making a high number of three-pointers.
Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. has lived up to his recruiting rankings as the No. 5 player nationally and the No. 1 point guard in the 247Sports rankings, leading Arkansas with 22 points and 6.2 assists per game while hitting 42.9 percent of his three-point attempts. A smart decision maker with an assist rate of nearly three times his turnover rate, Acuff is also a three-level scorer who makes 79.2 percent of his free throws.
Acuff projects as a lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft after putting his upside on display last month in scoring 49 points in a double-overtime loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Defensively, Arkansas isn’t as strong, ranking in the top 50 in adjusted defensive efficiency by protecting the rim and defending the three-point line well, but the Razorbacks are a poor defensive rebounding team and don’t create many turnovers.
Texas is coming off one of its most impressive wins over the season on Saturday at Texas A&M to move solidly into the NCAA Tournament field as head coach Sean Miller’s team has displayed commendable resiliency amidst frequent adversity this season — every time it’s looked like the season could spiral out of control, the Horns have steadied themselves, and battled back.
Heading to College Station after two straight losses and with the trip to Fayetteville looming, the Longhorns faced the potential of a four-game losing streak. Instead, Texas made winning plays down the stretch on offense and played one of its best games of the season defensively.
“We were on it. We limited their three-point shooting and we had a lot of guys playing with a lot of energy and effort,” Miller said after the win.
The Aggies shot 38.3 percent overall and 26.3 percent from three as the Horns baited frontcourt players Rashaun Agee and Jamie Vinson into 2-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc while limiting the team’s best three-point shooters, guards Rylan Griffen and Rueben Dominguez, to 1-of-7 shooting from three.
Texas also blocked nine shots, a season high, led by three blocks from sophomore forward Nic Codie, who was thrust into more extended action than usual because sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis picked up two fouls in the game’s first 63 seconds.
Junior wing Dailyn Swain also picked up two fouls before the first media timeout, so getting to halftime down one point marked a significant accomplishment for the Horns with some help from Miller managing both player’s minutes well and both players avoiding their third foul in the first half.
“Credit our team for being able to get to halftime without playing Dailyn or Matas like we usually do, that’s not easy, especially on the road,” Miller said.
A 9-2 run in the second half created some separation from A&M, veteran guards like Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark made winning plays down the stretch, and Texas went 11-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line after halftime to secure the win.
In 39 minutes, Pope scored 17 points, helped navigate the fullcourt pressure employed by the Aggies, and played with effort and attentiveness defensively.
“There’s no player on our team that I’ve coached harder than Jordan. I coached him hard before the season began. I’m coaching him because I’ve always felt, because of his unique skill set and his experience, that he had another level now, had a higher ceiling than sometimes he had shown. And I think everybody really saw that today — it wasn’t just his shot making, it was getting open, not wearing down, handling the ball against pressure, and really doing a good job defensively, playing poised throughout. He did it all. He did it all, and I thought he looked like a terrific point guard today,” Miller said.
With seven Quad 1 wins this season, Texas has ensured that a spot on the NCAA Tournament bubble isn’t at stake on Wednesday, reducing the impact of a loss and bolstering the value of an upset road win.
Tip is at 6 p.m. Central on ESPN2.
