Balanced Effort Helps Arkansas Knock off Texas Tech

DALLAS (AP) – Jonathon Modica scored 15 points and Dontell Jefferson added a season-high 14, helping Arkansas beat Texas Tech 78-65 Wednesday night.

The Razorbacks (9-2) won their seventh straight and upped their winning streak in Dallas to 19 in a row – even if it has been 11 years since they visited the city.

Jay Jackson scored 19 points and Darryl Dora had 12 for the Red Raiders (6-6), who lost their second straight game and fourth in five. They fell to 1-2 in their annual holiday season trip to Dallas to play before their largest alumni base.

The game drew 14,280 fans, with nearly everyone in red, the primary color of both schools. Judging by the cheers, the Hogs certainly had the louder group of supporters, just like they did back in the days when hordes of fans crammed Reunion Arena in their Southwest Conference heyday.

Arkansas scored the game’s first eight points and led by as many as 11 in the first half. Tech rode a scoring burst by Jackson to go ahead by two, but the Razorbacks regained the lead on about a 55-foot bank shot by freshman Sean McCurdy at the end of the first half and never trailed again.

Tech had a chance to get within three with about 4:30 left when Jackson drove for a layup. But Eric Ferguson stripped the ball, then threw a perfect alley-oop pass to Jefferson for a momentum-shifting dunk that put Arkansas ahead 65-58. After a timeout by the Red Raiders, Jefferson scored again and the Razorbacks’ lead was secure.

Ferguson scored 13 points and Ronnie Brewer had a season-low 12, well below his 20.1 average. He was 4-of-11 from the field after going 5-of-14 against Rice on Saturday, but he had four rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and five steals. The five steals give him 171 for his career, tying him with his father, Ron, for 10th on UA’s all-time list. Ron Brewer had 171 from 1975-78.

McCurdy played only the final 16 seconds of the first half. Modica led Arkansas with seven rebounds.

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