Zvonimir Ivisic scored 18 points, including seven in overtime, as short-handed Arkansas outlasted struggling Texas 86-81 on Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Razorbacks (17-11, 6-9 Southeastern Conference) led by 14 points with 10 minutes to play before Texas cut the margin to 66-63 on a 3-pointer by Tre Johnson with 3:42 remaining.
Johnson’s driving layup with 1:11 to play gave Texas a 69-68 lead. D.J. Wagner then drove the lane, was fouled with eight seconds left and made 1 of 2 free throws to send the game into the extra period.
In the overtime, Johnson and Ivisic traded baskets, with a pair of free throws by the Croatian center with 2:38 left giving the Razorbacks a 75-74 lead. A driving layup Wagner with 1:04 to play pushed the advantage to five points. Johnson answered by sinking a layup with 54.6 seconds left to make it a one-possession game.
A pair of free throws by Arkansas’ Johnell Davis with 24 seconds left were countered by a step-back 3-pointer from Johnson nine seconds later to cull the lead to 81-79. Two more free throws by Davis were answered by a layup from Johnson with 7.3 seconds to play.
Finally two free throw by the Razorbacks’ Jonas Aidoo and then one by Ivisic allowed Arkansas to escape with its second straight win.
Wagner scored 16 points for the Razorbacks while Davis had 14. Trevon Brazile and Karter Knox added 12 points each for Arkansas, which swept the season series from the Longhorns.
Johnson finished with 39 points, which were both a career high and a Texas freshman record for scoring. He put up 12 points in overtime.
Arthur Kaluma added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Kadin Shedrick had 12 points for the Longhorns (16-12, 5-10 SEC), who have dropped two straight and five of their past six games.
Arkansas forged a 8-0 run capped by a layup from Brazile to take a 31-18 lead with 5:27 left until halftime. The Longhorns cut the deficit to seven points on three occasions — the last on a layup by Kaluma with 1:09 remaining — before Arkansas scored the final five points of the half to carry a 42-30 edge to the break.
Brazile’s 10 points led the Razorbacks before halftime, while Johnson paced Texas with 10 points prior to intermission.
–Field Level Media
