Texas coach Rick Barnes can think of one way to improve the Big 12.Just add Arkansas.
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Michael Washington
scored 22 points,
including a driving dunk
in the final minute, and
the Razorbacks beat the
seventh-ranked Longhorns
67-61 Tuesday night.
Arkansas (12-1) has won
10 straight games and
beaten two top-10 teams
from the Big 12,
defeating then-No. 4
Oklahoma last week.
"I said coming up here
-- this school should be
in the Big 12. That's
where they should be,"
Barnes said. "It would
make our league better.
It would be better for
them. Why they're not, I
can't answer that."
The Razorbacks led their
former Southwest
Conference rivals 62-61
when their play appeared
to break down with the
6-foot-9-inch Washington
holding the ball near
the top of the key. But
he beat his man off the
dribble, had a clear
path to the basket and
was fouled as he dunked
with 22.5 seconds to
play. His free throw put
Arkansas ahead by four.
Texas' A.J. Abrams then
missed three straight
shots at the other end,
and Stefan Welsh added a
breakaway layup to
finish the scoring.
"I'm not going to sit
here and tell you we're
better than Texas,
because I don't know if
I believe that,"
Arkansas coach John
Pelphrey said. "But we
didn't have to be
tonight."
Arkansas has won 10 in a
row for the first time
since 1995, the year
after its NCAA
championship.
Welsh scored 20 points
for Arkansas. Damion
James had 17 to lead
Texas (11-3), which shot
1-of-14 on 3-pointers.
Some Arkansas
Razorback message board
posters often are
must-reads for analyzing
a game. Such a poster
goes by the name of
"Biggus Piggus"
on Hogville. He's been
around a while. We know
he used to be a
sportswriter, but he got
over that, yet still
kept his astute
analyzing skills and
ability to take
meaningful statistics
and explain
* The Razorbacks and
their fine head coach
adjusted and readjusted
when their initial plans
went wrong. Texas had a
solid advantage
rebounding on both ends,
Washington and Fortson
rode the bench in foul
trouble for long
stretches, and the Hogs
were 1-11 from 3-pt
range in the first half.
It was far from an
"everything went right"
game, but these
Razorbacks are
incredibly competitive
and never let the Horns
extend their lead very
far.
* When it came time to
make game-deciding
plays, Stefan Welsh,
Courtney Fortson and
Michael Washington were
unguardable. Simple as
that. And Arkansas was
able to get two stops
down the stretch, in
gut-check time.
* Texas's fat guy did
some good things with
his minutes (seven
offensive rebounds and
three blocks in 20 mins),
but he was not in the
game for Washington's
game-deciding dunk
because he's a fat guy.
Arkansas does not play
fat guy basketball, and
that's a big reason why
they won this game. The
Razorbacks are not going
to slow down to
accommodate a slob, no
matter how much [Jimmy]
Dykes loves 'em.
