Abrams Has Tough Night For ‘Horns

FAYETTEVILLE — Texas guard A.J. Abrams flirted with entering the NBA Draft last summer before deciding to return to the Longhorns for his senior season.

His shooting performance Tuesday night in a 67-61 loss to Arkansas was proof his game may not be NBA ready.

The 5-foot-11 shooting guard was a dismal 3-of-16 from the floor and did not score his first points until 10 minutes, 20 seconds remained in the game. Abrams finished with just seven points, well below his team-leading 19 points per game average.

“The same shots I’ve been hitting all year, tonight I just wasn’t knocking them in,” Abrams said. “It was a tough night. My playing like I did ... I have to do more for us to win.”

Arkansas junior Stefan Welsh was on Abrams most of the night, and played smothering defense.

“I’ve known A.J. since we were on the Nike All-American team,” Welsh said. “A.J.’s a great player with a quick release. I just tried to make him go to where I wanted him to go and make him a driver and get help from my teammates. They did a great job.”

By limiting Abrams to his lowest point total of the season, Arkansas (12-1) was able to knock off its second Top 10-ranked opponent in a week in front of a revved-up crowd of 19,012.

No. 7 Texas (11-3) led by as many as eight points when Damion James (17 points) scored on a layup to put the Longhorns up 43-35 with just over 15 minutes left. Arkansas outscored the Longhorns 32-18 the rest of the way.

“They’ve got a good team,” James said. “They are well coached. They shoot the ball well and rebound. They came out and did their job.”