Kevin Durant was named an NBA All-Star on Thursday
(Photo credit: Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman)

On Thursday night, Kevin Durant was named to the Western Conference All-Star team as a reserve. It’s the first time a former Longhorn has been tabbed for that honor since superstar Slater Martin’s seven-year All-Star run from 1952 to 1959. Durant is averaging 29.3 points per game through Oklahoma City’s first 45 contests, along with 7.3 boards and three assists.

The Texas road win against Arkansas looks a little better after the Hogs knocked off Mississippi State in Fayetteville last night. Courtney Fortson dropped 35 points in the victory on 53% shooting from the field. Elsewhere, the Pitt Panthers needed a second-half surge to knock off visiting St. John’s, while Long Beach State edged out Cal State-Northridge. Unfortunately, that was the extent of the good news for the Longhorn strength of schedule, as Cal-Irvine, Western Carolina, USC, and Gardner-Webb all lost last night.

Texas tumbled to 7th in Luke Winn’s latest Power Rankings, but what interests us most in his column is the conversation with NBA scouts. Winn reports that the consensus is that Damion James is a mid- to late-first rounder, and that the scouts would prefer to see Avery Bradley stay in school for another year, even though he’d be selected early in this year’s draft. Can we get extra copies of that column sent to AB in April?

We squeezed in lots and lots of work on the photo galleries tonight. Our latest update includes albums from the UNC, Rice, and Kansas State games, with the ones for Arkansas and UConn likely coming your way this weekend. Click here to browse all of the photos currently available.