The Arkansas Razorbacks (13-8, 2-6 SEC) are preparing for their second road matchup in a row against the Texas Longhorns (15-7, 4-5 SEC) on Wednesday at the Moody Center.
Led by third-year head coach Rodney Terry, the Longhorns are off to a roller-coaster start in SEC play in the 2024-25 season. After beginning league play with three-straight losses, Texas has won four of its last six with victories over Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas A&M and LSU. The Burnt Orange also defeated Syracuse, NC State and others in non-conference play.
"Very dangerous team," associate head coach Kenny Payne said Tuesday. "They play with a lot of energy. They’ve got two very good scorers. They’ve got a kid that I guess played here last year who is a very good player. With Tre Johnson and the Kaluma kid they create a lot of problems because they’re attacking.
"They rebound the ball well. They’re good in transition. And any time you’re in trouble and the shot clock is running down and they’ve got a guy who scores it the way that Tre Johnson does, it makes it hard."
Arkansas is coming off a monumental win over then-No. 12 Kentucky, a game in which it shot 32-of-58 from the field and 13-of-25 from distance. Whether that's a one-off or the beginning of an exciting trend will go a long way in determining the Hogs' rest-of-season success.
"(Shooting threes) really wasn’t a big emphasis, like Coach (Calipari) just said to come with energy, play with confidence and have fun," guard DJ Wagner said Saturday. "Through the season, some of the games, we struggled from the three point line, but Coach always said in practice, just from how much work we put in in practice and stuff like that, shots won’t fall one game or shots won’t fall some games, but we can’t really focus the game on that, missing shots.
"A big emphasis was really just defense and fighting, because that’s what makes us who we are and playing defense and fighting, and if shots are falling, it’s going to be good for us."
A key storyline to watch in this game is how Arkansas matches up against former Razorback guard Tramon Mark, who averaged 16.2 points per game for Arkansas in 2023-24 before transferring to the Longhorns over the offseason.
Here's a closer comparison of Arkansas' and Texas' stats, efficiency ratings, projected lineup for the Longhorns and more ahead of Wednesday's game, which is set to tip off at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2: