The battle for the Southeastern Conference championship is underway, with No. 6 Texas hosting Arkansas on Sunday afternoon.
Texas (14-1, 1-0) opened SEC play this week with an 80-73 win over Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the University of Arkansas lost its SEC opener against the University of Oklahoma by 34 points (7-9, 0-1).
Texas holds a 22-3 lead in the all-time series against Arkansas. Although the Razorbacks have won their last two games in Austin, none of the team’s current players were alive when Arkansas last visited UT’s campus in 1991.
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Final: Texas 90, Arkansas 56
After Arkansas scored the first points of the afternoon, sixth-place Texas scored 90 of the 144 points in the next game, resulting in a 34-point home victory. Texas was led by senior Aaliyah Moore, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Forward Justice Carlton added 15 points, fellow freshman Jordan Lee made four 3-pointers and junior center Kayla Oldacre had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Texas (15-1, 2-0) returns to the Moody Center on Thursday for a home game against No. 20 Alabama. Last March, Texas defeated Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Moody Center.
Arkansas (7-10, 0-2) was led by senior guard Izzy Higginbottom’s 23 points.
End 3: Texas 68, Arkansas 49
The third quarter saw Texas’ past, present and future expressed on the court as fourth-year veterans Rory Harmon and Aliyah Moore played alongside freshmen Jordan Lee, Justise Carlton and Brianna Preston. Finished. Texas got 17 points and 14 rebounds from Moore while building a 19-point lead this afternoon at the Moody Center. Karlon scored 12 points and didn’t miss any of his six shots.
Izzy Higginbottom led Arkansas with 19 points.
3rd place (5:42): Texas 50, Arkansas 39
Is Arkansas trying to make things interesting? Trailing by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, the Razorbacks scored seven of the game’s final nine points.
So far, All-American forward Madison Booker has yet to score for Texas.
Halftime: Texas 40, Arkansas 25
Texas outscored Arkansas by eight points in the second quarter and entered the halftime break with a comfortable lead. The Longhorns carried the game at an aggressive pace in the first half, with freshman forward Justise Carlton scoring 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Seniors Lori Harmon and Aaliyah Moore each scored eight points in the first two quarters, and Moore also grabbed 11 rebounds.
An Arkansas team that committed 13 turnovers was led by senior guard Izzy Higginbottom’s nine points in the first half. Five of Higginbottom’s points came on buzzer-beating shots at the end of the first and second quarters.
2nd place (4:59): Texas 28, Arkansas 19
Arkansas got within three points twice in the second quarter, but Jordan Lee made two 3-pointers in a span of 27 seconds to give Texas some breathing room. Lee, a first-year student, entered the game this season by making 18 three-point shots, the most on the team.
Just before a media timeout, Texas guard Lori Harmon hit the floor hard on a fastbreak attempt and remained down for several seconds. Harmon eventually gets back to his feet and plans to shoot two free throws when play resumes.
End 1: Texas 20, Arkansas 13
Arkansas guard Izzy Higginbottom hit a nice jumper at the buzzer to end the first quarter, but the Longhorns established control at the Moody Center. Senior forward Aaliyah Moore has already contributed six points and eight rebounds, and freshman forward Justise Carlton has knocked down all four of her shots.
Moore and Carlton grabbed seven of UT’s eight offensive rebounds. Those eight offensive rebounds led to eight second-chance points.
1st place (4:34): Texas 10, Arkansas 4
Senior forward Aaliyah Moore helped get Texas off to a strong start. Moore scored a team-high four points and three of his five rebounds were offensive rebounds. Moore had one assist and teammate Justice Carlton also scored.
Texas forward Taylor Jones will miss game against Arkansas
A Texas spokesperson confirmed that senior forward Taylor Jones will miss today’s game with what appears to be a head and neck injury. The 6-foot-4 Jones is averaging 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this season, ranking second on the team in shooting percentage of 66.1. On Thursday, Jones contributed eight points in the fourth quarter to the Longhorns’ 80-73 victory over Oklahoma.
With Jones out, Kyla Oldaker will make her first start for Texas. Oldaker started 21 games for Miami’s basketball team last season.
Longhorns and Razorbacks are on opposite ends of the SEC preseason poll
Back in October, Texas was picked to finish second in the SEC preseason poll. Meanwhile, the University of Arkansas was selected for the final spot in the preseason voting.
On paper, this game would be one of the easiest for Texas in January. Texas, which just played No. 10 Oklahoma on Thursday, still has to play Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Missouri this month. South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Ole Miss are ranked as the No. 2, No. 13, No. 20 and No. 25 teams, respectively, in this week’s USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, with Auburn reaching the NCAA Tournament last season.
Texas also has a nonconference game scheduled for Jan. 20 against No. 7 Maryland.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Basketball vs. Arkansas: Live Updates, Game Scores.
