By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 10 Arkansas didn't have the showing at Austin on Saturday they had hoped for as they fell to No. 12 Texas 90-60.

The Longhorns led 40-30 at intermission, but then completely dominated the Razorbacks in the second half. Eric Musselman obviously wasn't pleased with how his team played in the final exhibition game of the preseason.

"You're right, I did say that we were in for an eye-opening experience based on how we've been practicing and understanding the veteran essence of their roster and understanding how hard they play," Musselman said. "But the turnovers, you have 23 turnovers in a college basketball game and it's really going to be hard (to compete). 

"We have 11 news guys, so obviously we're going to be a work in progress, and how far that work in progress gets, I don't know. But this is a great game for us. Not that we played great. We played as bad as any 40 minutes of basketball since I've been involved in college basketball. The 11 first-half offensive rebounds, not defending the three-ball, 23 turnovers, 26 points off of turnovers. It's a lot to overcome."

Turnovers has been an issue for the Razorbacks in all six preseason games as well as the Red-White game. Musselman talked about the turnovers and if there was a common theme with them.

"I mean, we're young," Musselman said. "They're really physical. They thrive on ball pressure. It wasn't just one position. I mean, it was across the board. It was their bigs getting into our bigs, and our bigs not having the ability to put the ball on the deck even for a dribble handoff. The lack of making threes, if you don't guard the three-point line much like Year 1 at Arkansas, we had to guard the three-point line. To give up 10 threes, we have a goal of five. We have a goal of nine turnovers. We have a goal of nine offensive rebounds for the opponent. All of the goals that we’ve talked about for the last three years, none of them were met. Hence the 30-point loss."

Jordan Walsh led the Hogs with 14 points, including 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point line. He also added five rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block. Nick Smith Jr. had 12 points, two steals and an assist. The Hogs were within one possession with three minutes remaining in the first half. 

"I mean, I think whether it’s a baseball game and you talk about it’s close through five innings… I’ve been around too long," Musselman said. "I mean, Texas totally outplayed us and to say… It’s hard to get a lot of separation in 17 minutes. 

"We subbed more than we will, obviously, in a regular-season game, but Coach (Chris) Beard’s team had great toughness tonight. I thought they climbed all over the offensive boards at the beginning of the game. I think they set the tone. I thought (Arterio) Morris was outstanding, his ability to rise over people from the 3-point line. Really, really impressed with Morris in the minutes that he played."

With Arkansas only down 10 at intermission Musselman wasn't fooled by that and expected what ended up happening in the second half. 

"No, this is happening in practice," Musselman said. "When one team gets up, the momentum just keeps going, so that’s something we’ve got to work through, even in practice. That’s really uncharacteristic of how we’ve been, not to have competitive stamina when somebody comes at you and goes on a scoring run."

Texas shot 62.5 percent from behind the 3-point line hitting 10 of 16. Musselman was asked if the Hogs had defended the 3-point shot well in practice?

"At times, we defend it," Musselman said. "Other times, we don’t. Again, if we’re going to struggle to shoot it, we have to do a much better job of being able to defend it and guard your guy outside the three-point line."

Musselman was obviously impressed with the Longhorns. He talked about the advice he would give a coach facing Texas.

"Well I mean, if you’re going to play Texas, you better have great defensive block outs," Musselman said. "You better get to loose balls. You better bring great toughness. Those are the things. We’ve played Coach Beard’s team before, so it’s a lot of the same themes. You better jump stop off two feet, or they’re going to take charges. 

"So, it’s a pretty simple formula, but it’s hard to solve if you don’t do what you need to do against them. They understand their roles. When you’ve got (Timmy) Allen out there, and you’ve got (Marcus) Carr out there, and even (Dylan) Disu and (Christian) Bishop, and then their freshmen just kind of figure it out to play alongside those guys. They’re a really good ball team. They’re an excellent team, and they’re really well-coached."

Arkansas will open regular season on Monday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. hosting North Dakota State.