Despite a delayed sense of despair that helped with record effort and overtime from starfreshman Tre Johnson, Texas Basketball dropped a key SEC game on Arkansas 86-81 on Wednesday at Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Currently, Texas (16-12, 5-10 seconds) will need to show that type of despair of three full games if they want to secure five consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament.
Johnson, a 6-foot-6 guard projected as an NBA lottery pick in the June draft, set a new single-game best for the 39-point Texas freshman. His historic performance helped Texas rally from a 14-point deficit in the second half and force overtime, but failed to carry the Longhorns to the necessary victory against Arkansas (17-11, 6-9).
“He’s going to be a lottery pick,” Texas coach Rodney Terry told reporters after the game. “He’s a special talent. We knew that when we signed him.”
The Razorbacks, Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma all entered this week in each other’s games in the lower half of the SEC standings. Based on the predictions of various NCAA tournaments, either two or three of its quartet received NCAA Tournament bids, and Arkansas almost resolved their arguments with Texas by sweeping out the two-game series.
On Saturday, Texas hosted Georgia and knocked off No. 3 Florida on Tuesday. The Longhorns then conclude the regular season for their visit to Oklahoma on March 8, following their visit to Mississippi State’s No. 24 on March 4.
The freshman carried the Longhorns to a victory at Arkansas, but Texas can’t rely entirely on Johnson if they want to win at least two of the last three regular-season games. He scored 29 of his points after halftime. This includes driving layups that gave Texas the first lead in the game since the remaining opening bucket of one minute and 11 seconds in regulation. However, Arkansas forced his tie, winning by working overtime with all four shots off the floor and 11 of his 12 free throws.
Johnson defeated the tie with Terrencer and Kevin Durant at most points in a single game by freshmen. Lencher scored 37 points in a non-conference game against the Virginia Commonwealth in the 1991-92 season, while Durant scored 37 points four times in the 2006-2007 national season.
Arthur Karma scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Texas, while Kadin Shedrick chipped with 12 points and 8 rebounds. However, the other longhorns were able to match up with just 17 points in 8/23 filming.
In comparison, the banged Arkansas squad only used seven players, while five reached double-digit points. The Razorback also reached the foul line and shot 31 free throws compared to the Texas 13.
That’s the trend that Terry said his team needs to quit. In the last six games, all longhorn enemies have tried at least 20 free throws. The Longhorns went 1-5 on that stretch.
“They got to the foul line, but we didn’t,” Terry said. “We bailed them out of some shots they hadn’t had the chance to make.”
