This 1979 Southwest Conference Game of the Week featured two very good and talented teams….which were coached by two legendary college coaches…..with Eddie Sutton at Arkansas University….and Abe Lemons at the University of Texas….both in the College Basketball Hall of Fame….as the Longhorns and the Razorbacks were arch rivals throughout the tenure of Lemons at Texas from 1976 – 1982….and in 1979 they would both finish the season tied for 1st place in the Southwest Conference with mirror 13 – 3 records….while posting season records of 25 – 5 for the Hogs….and 21 – 8 for the Horns….whereby both teams went to the Big Dance….where Texas lost in the 2nd round to Oklahoma…..and Arkansas lost in the regional finals to Larry Bird’s Indiana State.
Arkansas and Texas both played their starters an overwhelmingly majority of the game….so, for the Razorbacks there was 6’3″ G Sidney Moncrief 22.0 pts 9.6 rebs 2.7 asst…. 6’2″ G U. S. Reed 11.8 pts 3.2 rebs 2.1 asst….6’11” C Steve Schall 10.8 pts 5.9 rebs 1.0 asst….6’10” F Scott Hastings 8.3 pts 4.6 rebs 1.3 asst….6’7″ F Alan Zahn 6.6 pts 4.7 rebs 2.3 asst….and 6’6″ F Keith Peterson 6.5 pts 3.9 rebs 1.0 asst….so the Hogs had a much taller team than the Horns….along with an All American guard in Moncrief that was taller than either Moore, Krivacs or Baxter for the Horns.
The Longhorns starting five consisted of 6’7″ F Tyrone Branyon 18.1 pts 6.9 rebs 1.3 asst…..6’1″ G Jim Krivacs 17.6 pts 2.2 rebs 3.2 asst…..6’4″ F Ron Baxter 11.7 pts 6.6 rebs 1.6 asst….6’3″ G Johnny Moore 10.2 pts 4.4 rebs 6.3 asst….and 6’7″ F Phillip Stroud 9.5 pts 8,8 rebs 1.0 asst….so, the Horns were well balanced in scoring with all five starters being at 10 pts per game or higher…..who all played together the year before when the Longhorns won the N.I.T. by a runaway….with all but Stroud being starters….which meant they knew how to play Coach Lemons match-up zone defense really well….as evidenced by this video herewith.
The 1st half of this game at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas would end with the Horns holding a 38 – 32 lead over the Hogs….in a game that is well worth watching by any college basketball fan.
