All Hogs

Texas Type Team Razorbacks Need to Find Way to Beat Tonight

Win over Kentucky showed potential of Hogs, but now beating a Longhorns team that's not great another step

Andy Hodges

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari grimaces at guard D.J. Wagner (21) in the second half during the win against Kentucky at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari grimaces at guard D.J. Wagner (21) in the second half during the win against Kentucky at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. / Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Just because Arkansas rolled past Kentucky by 10 on Saturday night means absolutely nothing tonight. Even Razorbacks coach John Calipari noted it after the game.

"It’s one game," he said. "If I take it any different with my team then I’m crazy."

Even though he doesn't admit to looking ahead at games, he knows who's next. He knew right after the 89-79 win he had tonight's game with Texas on the road next. The Wildcats didn't exactly bounce back, either. Ole Miss thoroughly dominated them, 98-84, in Oxford.

Most fans are cautiously optimistic the Hogs have turned the corner and now we're going to see why there was all that excitement last April when Calipari was hired away from Kentucky. You can throw out the caution part for the Lunatic Fringe of the fan base that is convinced a big NCAA run is ahead.

As radio analyst Matt Zimmerman pointed out on Halftime with Phil Elson and former Razorbacks player Matt Jones on Monday, "they are good, but not great."

"They've got a nice team," Zimmerman said. "You gotta find a way to go there and beat those guys.

They'll obviously have to do without point guard Boogie Fland, But they have won two of three since he's been out. It's really not ridiculous to ask if they're a better team without him. You don't have to study the stats you can see it with your own eyes.

"You could make an argument for that," the former assistant coach under Mike Anderson said. "If you have Boogie you beat Georgia. If you have Boogie you might have beaten Kentucky by more and could have beaten Oklahoma. Our worst losses are to Oklahoma at home, on the road at LSU and at home to Ole Miss. We had boogie for two of those losses. It's something you can see."

Maybe the biggest question in shutting down Texas is stopping Tre Johnson, who is leading the SEC in scoring at 19 points a game. Zimmerman gets to attend practices and has seen Johnson be a focus for the Hogs' defense.

“He’s a guy that Arkansas is focusing on,” Zimmerman said onWednesday morning’s episode of Razorback Daily. “In practice the other day, they were spending a lot of time trying to get ready for Tre because he’s so versatile and he’s a guy that can really beat you.”

It poses the interesting question for Calipari and his staff if they're going to focus exclusively on stopping Johnson and make the others beat them. Or do they go the opposite way and concede Johnson his 19 points and shut down everybody else?

That could be the question to see what the answer will be tonight. It also could provide some clues how the Razorbacks' season goes the rest of the way.

To get into the NCAA in March, the Hogs have a slim margin of losses because of the three losses Zimmerman mentioned earlier in the week. Getting a Quad 1 road win over the Longhorns woud go a long way to a better path.

Arkansas Texas will tip off tonight in another one of those annoying 8 p.m. starts at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Fans can also hear the game on the Razorback Sports Network and ESPN 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

HOGS FEED:

• 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

• Knox finally growing into player coaches anticipated

• One word can keep Calipari's Hogs winning

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Andy Hodges
ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.

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