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Hogs' Turn 'Horns Down with Dominant Defensive Performance

Razorbacks appear to turn corner on struggling season with another SEC road victory against longtime rival Texas

Jacob Davis

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari yells out to players during the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center.
Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari yells out to players during the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center. / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach John Calipari orchestrated another magnificent defensive performance Wednesday night inside Texas' Moody Center.

The Razorbacks shuttered the Longhorns' high scoring offense to one of its worst shooting nights of the season. Now that the offense is catching up, Arkansas is focused on re-entering the NCAA Tournament discussion following a dominant 78-70 victory over its old Southwest Conference rival.

The Hogs led for over 36 minutes and by as many as 23 in the second half before holding on for a monumental win.

Mr. February, Calipari has his team playing the best ball at the right time as it prepares to take on Alabama this Saturday at Bud Walton Arena. Over the last four years, Calipari's teams have recorded a combined record of 24-8 in the final full month of the regular season.

Calipari cautioned fans that it will take time to establish his program at Arkansas, just like at UMass and Memphis. He infamously joked about not having a team during his introductory press conference in April, but was optimistic about his roster make up once the regular season drew near.

“Reality is, it’s going to take a team,” Calipari said in October. “These guys have got to come together. [Coaching] you are responsible for you, then we bring this team together and they care about one another so much that it’s amazing when they accomplish stuff.”

Arkansas has accomplished plenty offensively including Wednesday night's performance causing Texas to connect on just 34 percent of its field goal attempts and are now 1-7 in such games. The Longhorns also made only 27 percent of their three-point attempts and are now 3-6 overall when making less than 30% from beyond the arc.

With a team fully bought in and a coach falling in love with the process there could be a chance Arkansas is beginning to figure things out instead of watching its foundation crumble.

"I love coaching this team now," Calipari said Wednesday night. "How ‘bout they struggled like that and stuck together? How ‘bout they struggled and I had somebody ask, ‘Are you afraid they’re going to let go of the rope?’ Were you in the room? You weren’t the one that asked. I said, ‘Well, they would have let go of the rope already.’"

This team has proven to be a scrappy bunch on the defensive end are hardly appeasing to watch generate offense. For Calipari, a win is a win especially on the road in a hostile environment like his Razorbacks have the past two games.

"They’re fighting," Calipari said. "I still think we got a ways to go to reach where we should be, I do. But I’m just happy we won this, the last game on the road, two road wins. In this league? Two road wins tells you we’re not too bad."

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks topple Texas, pick up first SEC winning streak

• Texas type team Razorbacks need to find way to beat tonight

• Freshman pitching familiar formula for Van Horn, Razorbacks

• Greenwood coach expects Karnes to carry on tradition of walk-on success with Hogs

• Beating Texas opens door for Razorbacks fans to dream

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Jacob Davis
JACOB DAVIS

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