LAS VEGAS — Texas-San Antonio outscored Arkansas 48-25 in the second half Sunday and defeated the Razorbacks 71-55 in the second round of the Duel in the Desert.
Arkansas (6-5) led 30-23 at halftime.
The Razorbacks face Virginia Commonwealth (5-4) at 2 p.m. Central today in their final game of the tournament. VCU lost to Kansas State 73-67 on Sunday.
Arkansas led at halftime after shooting 48 percent from the field, outrebounding Texas-San Antonio 20-18 and blocking 5 shots.
The second half was a different story as Arkansas committed 16 of its 28 turnovers and shot 35.7 percent from the field.
“We just didn’t take care of the basketball,” Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said. “We looked very, very tentative on offense, and when we tried to move the ball around on the perimeter, we threw it away before we gave ourselves a chance to score.”
Texas-San Antonio (5-4) hit 11 of 23 from the field in the second half after making 10 of 31 in the first half.
The Roadrunners actually made one less basket than the Razorbacks from the field but made their mark at the free-throw line.
Texas-San Antonio hit 24 of 29 free throws in the second half (26 of 36 for the game), while Arkansas made 7 of 15 in the game.
Senior Charity Ford led Arkansas with 10 points.
Arkansas outrebounded Texas-San Antonio 39-35.
Arkansas will return home after today’s game, with a Dec. 29 game scheduled against Sam Houston State in the final nonconference game.
Sports, Pages 22 on 12/21/2009