Texas A&M Basketball Silents the Hogs
Texas A&M Basketball handled its business and defeated Arkansas 87-80. The win was much needed as the Aggies hadn’t won in Fayetteville in 33 years.
There is nothing like getting a win somewhere you haven’t in 30-plus years, well now Texas A&M basketball knows how it feels.
According to Texas A&M’s team notes, before Saturday’s win, the last time the Aggies came out of Fayetteville with a victory was in 1986.
The Aggies dropped the first game against the Hogs but avenged themselves with a seven-point win Saturday evening.
Texas A&M refused to lose this game. No team could match the determination the team showed throughout the game.
Both teams had similar traits and matched up well. It was a good matchup for the Aggies to see what they need to work on in the final games of the season.
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The team shot a season-best percentage from the floor. Texas A&M completed 58.3 percent of its shots.
A&M also shot 37.5 percent from the arc.
Savion Flagg and Wendell Mitchell led the way for the Aggies.
Both players had 20-point games. Flagg had 22 points, nine boards, four assists, and a steal.
This performance is Flagg’s third game in a row he led the Aggies in points and rebounds.
Mitchell made 7-9 shots, 3-5 from the arc and scored 20 points. He also had three rebounds and two assists. His double-digit performance was the sixth of the season for him.
Mitchell could have helped more but fouled out during the game.
Two other Aggies contributed with double-digit points as well. Josh Nebo made 5-6 shots, had 14 points and six boards. TJ Starks rounded it out for the Aggies with 11 points.
Chris Collins and Chrisitan Mekowulu contributed heavily to help those guys score. Collins recorded four steals and tabbed three assists. Mekowulu had five rebounds and three blocks.
Texas A&M should be happy these guys produced on the offensive side of things because it isn’t often that you win a game with 18 turnovers.
Arkansas couldn’t get the stops it needed. The Hogs pulled within two points with 8:21 left in the game.
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Then Flagg nailed a fastbreak triple which triggered an 11-2 run that put a comeback from the Hogs out of reach.
However, the Hogs didn’t go down without a fight. Arkansas had a pair of players who scored 20-points as well.
Daniel Gafford tried to do it all by himself. He had 23 points, 13 rebounds, six of which were offensive, and three blocks. Gafford made 9-14 from the floor and 5-7 from the foul line. He completed 64.2 percent of his shots.
Joe Isaiah contributed 20 points, six rebounds, two assists, and one steal. He made 5-12 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc and 8-9 from the free throw line. Isaiah completed 41.7 percent of his shots.
Mason Jones had a respectable 11 points and four assists.
Despite having three guys score at least 11 points, it was up to Goffard to get the job done. It’s hard to get conference wins when the team depends on one player.
Arkansas couldn’t get its long ball to fall which is one of the reasons they fell in this game. 22.7 percent from the arc isn’t what the Hogs needed, and the Aggies capitalized on it.
That was the fifth straight loss for the Hogs. If one or two more of Isaiah’s three-pointers fell, Arkansas may have won.
Instead, the Aggies held them off and did a great job milking the clock at the end to avoid the comeback.
The win marked Texas A&M’s second conference road win with the other coming in Tuscaloosa.
Despite allowing the Hogs to come within one multiple time during the second half, the Aggies held onto the lead and never allowed Arkansas much momentum.
There isn’t an NCAA bid coming for either team, but it could turn into a spot in the NIT tournament.
The Aggies are currently 5-9 in SEC play and tie with Arkansas in 11th place.
It doesn’t get easier for the Aggies from here either. Texas A&M has four tough games left this season starting in Baton Rouge.
Next. LSU Defies the Odds and Does it Again. dark
The Aggies take on Vanderbilt at home after LSU, stay at home for South Carolina and finish the season out on the road in Starkville against a tough Mississippi State team.
Before Texas A&M can catch its breath, it’ll have to take on LSU in Baton Rouge Tuesday night. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.