Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER Stefan Welsh made only two threepointers Tuesday night, but one came off an inbounds pass with 3:32 left and gave Arkansas the lead for good.

FAYETTEVILLE - Stefan Welsh couldn't believe he was 5 of 16 from the field with 11:17 remaining in Tuesday night's game against Texas.

"For real?" Welsh said following Arkansas' 67-61 victory over No. 7 Texas. "I didn't know I took that many shots. I don't like taking that many shots."

What surprised Welsh even more - despite his shooting woes - was the fact Texas left him unguarded on an inbounds play nearly eight minutes later with the scored tied at 57-57.

"Nobody was within 25 yards," Welsh said with a laugh.

Welsh was inbounding the ball in front of Arkansas' bench and was looking for point guard Courtney Fortson.

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"The play was designed to go to Courtney, to try to isolate him going towards the right side of the floor," Welsh said. "But they doubled him, and I'm thinking, 'Are they serious?'

"The man guarding me was almost past halfcourt trying to deny Courtney, so I looked at Mike and nodded my head."

Welsh was talking about Michael Washington, who took the inbounds pass, held it for a second, then pitched it back to Welsh. Welsh didn't hesitate, instead taking a long three-pointer that splashed into the net and put Arkansas ahead for good, 60-57, with 3:32 to play.

"We had something on that we were going to try to do, but they had nobody on the ball," Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. "Michael stepped to the ball, and they communicated [with their eyes], and Stef stepped right in bounds and made a big shot.

"It was very deep. It was a deep, deep three."

Texas forward Damion James said the failure to cover Welsh was a miscommunication. Longhorns Coach Rick Barnes said it was a failed defensive rotation due to an attempt to deny Fortson the inbounds pass.

"I'll take the blame for that one," Barnes said.

Welsh, who had hit 2 of 3 shots - including another deep three-pointer - following his 5-of-16 start, said the surprisingly open look was too good to pass up.

"I hadn't been shooting the ball too well the whole night, but it felt good when I let it go," Welsh said.

Welsh capped his 20-point night, his sixth consecutive game with 12 or more points, by dropping in an uncontested layup just before the final buzzer sounded in Arkansas' victory over its former Southwest Conference rival. He also had 2 rebounds and 2 assists without a turnover while playing a teamhigh 38 minutes.

Part of the reason Welsh played so many minutes was because of Fortson and Washington getting in first-half foul trouble. Those problems allowed Texas to erase an early 14-8 deficit.

"We were getting everything we wanted," Welsh said.

When Washington and Fortson went to the bench, however, Arkansas struggled mightily. The Razorbacks finished the first half just 10 of 34 (29.4 percent) from the field, including a 4-of-11 effort from Welsh.

"Two of the best basketball players on our team were in foul trouble," Welsh said, "and I just wanted to keep us in it any way possible."