Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Photo by Nelson Chenault

Texas and junior guard A.J. Abrams silenced the boos and Arkansas "hog calls" coming from most of the 16,060 fans in Alltel Arena and methodically disposed of 15th-seed Austin Peay on Friday in the second game of the NCAA Tournament first-round session.

Abrams took up the scoring load for Texas with backcourt mate D.J. Augustin having an off-shooting game and hit six 3-pointers, scoring 26 points in leading the Longhorns to a 74-54 win

At one point, the Horns had a 30-point lead at 66-36, but this one was mostly sloppy and dull. But Texas coach Rick Barnes was glad he didn't have to sweat the kind of game another two seed, Duke, had with Belmont on Thursday night. Duke escaped an upset to a 15-seed 71-70.

Austin Peay was no Belmont on Friday, as Texas roared out to a 15-3 lead and held a 39-24 advantage at halftime. The Governors from the Ohio Valley Conference shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half and did not crack the 30 percent barrier all day.

Texas, behind Abrams, had more success shooting in the second half after a 44 percent effort in the first half.

And one big difference from the opening tip was that Austin Peay, with no starter taller than 6-foot-5, could not match Texas' muscle underneath with swingman Damion James and backup center Dexter Pittman.

"When playing a team this size, I sometimes wonder how we'll score," Austin Peay coach Dave Loos said. 

An understandable predicament to be sure, as the Governors were down 32-14 in the first half.

Abrams hit 10 of 16 shots, including 6 of 10 from beyond the 3-point line. While Augustin may have fallen short in his usual scoring output, he contributed eight assists. Justin Mason had seven assists.

"I just kind of got in a good rhythm," Abrams said. "My teammates did a goo job of setting screens. D.J. was penetrating and  kicking the ball out and giving me wide open looks. I have to give credit to my teammates for that."

Texas was greeted with rousing boos from the crowds when the Longhorns took the floor to warmup and again before the tip-off. Austin  Peay's crowd even got the Arkansans on hand to join in a loud call of "Wooie Pig Sooie" just before tipoff.

But soon enough, the crowd was mostly sitting and watching Texas methodically run its offense and get open looks, while Austin Peay struggled for anything. It was only late in the second half that Austin Peay got some of its outside game going to get the deficit under 20 points.

Texas coach Rick Barnes, marveling at Abrams' shooting, said, "I would like to bottle it and  do it every night. I mean, we all know that shooting makes up fo a multitude of sins. We know that. When you start making shots, and some nights maybe you don't play so well, but you start making shots, people think, wow, it looks really, really good."

Texas will play Miami (Fla.) at 1:15 p.m. Sunday. The game will match Barnes against his former assistant Frank Haith. Barnes also knows what  Texas must do better on Sunday than it did Friday afternoon.

"Definitely rebounding, there's no question. Miami is an excellent rebounding team. I think th ey do a great job of going to get second-chance opportunities," Barnes said.