Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas faces tough challenge against No. 5 Texas in Oklahoma City
FAYETTEVILLE — At least Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes has maintained a good sense of humor.
The Razorbacks (3-7) have lost seven of their past eight games, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier today as Arkansas takes on No. 5 Texas at the Big 12/SEC Challenge in Oklahoma City. Tipoff is 1:30 p.m. at Chesapeake Arena.
When asked what his team was doing to get ready for unbeaten Texas, Dykes joked, “Nothing. Christmas parties.”
“No, it’s been a good week because of final exams,” Dykes said. “You’re always concerned about how your young ladies are going to come off final exams. Are they ready to go home for Christmas, or are they ready to take on Texas? I expect that we will be. It’s been a good week for us because it’s allowed us to heal up a little bit and concentrate on us.”
Arkansas will start two freshmen and a sophomore today against a team that has already defeated nationally ranked Tennessee, Mississippi State and Stanford among its eight wins.
But the Razorbacks can look to how Arkansas-Little Rock battled Texas in a 66-56 loss. UALR led the game until the final quarter when Texas seized control.
“I’m not going to share any secrets about what we see in Texas, but they’re good,” Dykes said. “I don’t see any glaring weaknesses at all. They’ll be ready for us. They’re playing Arkansas now. I know their coaching staff will do a good job, too, of understanding that this isn’t Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State. You’re taking on the Razorbacks, and the Razorbacks and Longhorns, they’ve been in a lot of powerful struggles over the years in the Southwest Conference in every sport.”
Arkansas has not faced
Texas in women’s basketball since 2003 and has not beaten the Longhorns since 1991.
Although the teams have rarely played each other since Arkansas left the old Southwest Conference, the rivalry is not lost on Dykes, in his second season as the Razorbacks coach.
“The Arkansas-Texas rivalry in this state in any sport, doesn’t matter, is a big, big deal,” Dykes said. “I’ll make sure our young ladies understand that before we take the floor on Sunday, that when the Arkansas red and white steps on the court against the burnt orange, it should go to another level. I don’t know if that’ll equate to a win or not, but I expect us to play really, really hard because I know how important this game is to our state.”
Bryant native Karen Aston, who coached at Vilonia and Fort Smith Northside prior to jumping into the college ranks, has led Texas back to national prominence. Aston led the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 last season despite a host of injuries and has the nation’s No. 3 ranked recruiting class coming in next season.
Dykes is hoping his team will take a page from the iconic basketball movie Hoosiers as motivation to upset the powerful Longhorns.
“Texas is at a different place with their program than we are with ours,” Dykes said. “We’re growing our program. This is our first, in my mind, true year one. Texas is established. They have it rolling, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t go down there and play really, really well and try to do some good things and hang in that game as long as we can and see what happens at the end.
“I’m getting together a couple of good Arkansas-Texas stories to share with them in the hotel and in the locker room and reflect back on my days when I played here with ‘ Razorbacks’ on my jersey and facing against a team that said ‘Longhorns’ on theirs.”