First there was Abe and Eddie and those classic games when Abe Lemons and Eddie Sutton matched coaching wits.
Next was Tom and Nolan and the wildly athletic games that were equally well coached as "Sweet" Tom Penders, so called by Nolan Richardson in a not-always-friendly way, mixed and matched players and schemes looking for an advantage.
Usually, the scales tilted toward the Arkansas Razorbacks, but those old Southwest Conference games were always highly anticipated and were played in front of standing-room-only crowds.
It didn't matter if they played in Dallas, Fayetteville or Austin, fans packed the joint.
Not so much Saturday when Mike Anderson and Shaka Smart brought the latest chapter of Hogs and 'Horns to Houston in front of a sparse crowd.
With a touch of irony, the ESPNU broadcast started a bit late as Texas Tech's victory over Richmond ran late, but it gave folks a chance to see Chris Beard has picked up where he left off last year at UALR. He has the Red Raiders sitting at 10-1.
The Hogs were trailing slightly when the broadcast came on, and UT's Tevin Mack, the Longhorns' leading scorer, was yapping at the Hogs' Jaylen Barford, reminiscent of the old days when Darrell Walker or Alvin Robertson -- and later Todd Day or even later Corey Beck -- were known as great players who loved to talk trash.
Arkansas had trouble finding the range, especially in the early going.
The Hogs missed inside and out and trailed 17-10 when Anderson calmly turned to his bench for more experience, inserting Anton Beard and Dusty Hannahs into the lineup. Suddenly, the Longhorns found themselves on their heels.
Hannahs quickly scored seven points, Beard two and just like that it was 21-20 with 8:23 to play in the first half.
But the cold shooting resurfaced, which was as predictable as the dose of odd weather Arkansas is getting this weekend.
The Hogs trailed 35-30 at the half primarily because they were 9 of 34 from the field, a chilling 26.5 percent, including 1 of 9 from behind the three-point line.
But Arkansas was 11 of 12 at the free-throw line, led by Daryl Macon, who was 1 of 7 from the field but 9 of 9 on free throws. He would finish 14 of 14 at the line.
The free-throw line turned out to be the charm for the Hogs, something that hasn't always been true.
Arkansas hit 29 of 31 free throws (93.5 percent) while hitting 22 of 62 (35.5) from the field, but the tale of the tape was the Hogs refused to lose down the stretch and its defense made the final difference.
Arkansas made 7 of its first 12 shots to start the second half, five of those baskets coming directly from assists, but Texas lured the Hogs back into shooting jump shots and closed the gap.
Hannahs hit a three-pointer that brought the Arkansas bench to its feet as soon as it left his hand, but the 'Horns tied it on a three-point play.
Hannahs, known more for his shooting than his defense, busted through for a steal and layup and a 65-61 lead, but the Longhorns wouldn't spit the bit.
The Hogs made their final seven free throws and survived a scare on an inbound turnover that gave Texas the ball with 14.9 seconds to play down 77-74.
Arkansas' smothering defense forced Texas into a long three that was an air ball, and the Razorbacks had their ninth victory of this season, and their 87th all-time against the Longhorns.
Sports on 12/18/2016