Texas, Arkansas renew rivalry as conference foes

Texas and Arkansas renew their rivalry as conference opponents for the first time in 35 years when they square off on Wednesday in a Southeastern Conference game in Austin, Texas.

Both teams carry momentum from huge victories on Saturday as they try to turn around ragged starts in the SEC gauntlet. They haven't met on the court since a 73-71 Longhorns win at Fort Bliss in El Paso in 2018 and haven't played in Austin since 2011. The Razorbacks lead the all-time series 87-68.

The Longhorns (15-7, 4-5 SEC) have rebounded from a slow start in league play as they've come together and gotten healthy, posting wins in three of their past four games, including a dominating 89-58 victory at LSU on Saturday. Tre Johnson and Tramon Mark scored 18 points apiece to lead a balanced scoring effort in a game that Texas never trailed.

The 31-point win marked Texas' largest margin of victory in a road conference game since beating Texas Tech by 31 on Jan. 11, 2011.

"We really challenged the guys at halftime to trust the process," Texas coach Rodney Terry said. "We've been getting better the last three weeks, both offensively and defensively. We just needed to put together a 40-minute game to where we competed the entire time."

Texas' only loss in its past four games was a three-point setback at then-No. 23 Ole Miss.

Like LSU, Arkansas is not nationally ranked, but that doesn't mean the Razorbacks won't draw Texas' full attention.

"It's a big deal, and it's a great rivalry in college athletics to have our two institutions compete again at a very high level," Terry said.

The Razorbacks (13-8, 2-6) head to Austin off a monumental 89-79 win at then-No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday in coach John Calipari's first return to Lexington since taking the job at Arkansas. Adou Thiero racked up 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Razorbacks.

Johnell Davis added 18 points, D.J. Wagner hit for 17 (all in the second half) and Zvonimir Ivisic poured in four 3-pointers on his way to scoring 14 points for Arkansas, which shot 55.2 percent from the floor and went 13 of 25 from 3-point range.

"A big emphasis was really just defense and fighting," Wagner said. "That's what makes us who we are -- playing defense and fighting, and if shots are falling, it's going to be good for us."

The Razorbacks have won two of their past three games after losing five to start the SEC portion of their schedule.

--Field Level Media