The Arkansas Razorbacks successfully defended their home floor with a 81-70 win over the Aggies of Texas A&M. In a game that didn’t see very many lead changes, Arkansas basketball took control of the game early and never looked to be in danger of an Aggie comeback. This is only the second SEC loss for A&M, who were tied with Tennessee for second place in the conference.
Arkansas Basketball defeats Texas A&M at home, 81-70
While Texas A&M never took the lead in the game, they were able to tie the game two times in the early first half. Although the Razorbacks never ran away with the game, they were able to keep the Aggies at bay for the entire evening. The thing that played A&M for most of the evening was their poor shooting. That kept them from taking advantage of the 17 turnovers committed by Arkansas.
Texas A&M only hit 34.2% of their field goals, going 26 for 76 from the floor. The Aggies got 18 points from both Wade Taylor IV and Henry Coleman III. Coleman also led the team in rebounding grabbing 15 boards for A&M. The team also saw 17 points from Tyrece Radford, as no other player from the Aggies was able to score in double figures.
Arkansas had four players score in double figures and were led Davonte Davis and Ricky Council IV who both had 19 points. Makhel Mitchell had a strong game on the interior as he finished the game with 13 rebounds and 7 blocks as he also provided 9 points on the evening. The Razorbacks got a much needed win that improved their record to 4-5 in the SEC and 15-7 overall. A win against a good team like A&M could help boost their resume if they have NCAA tournament aspirations.
The Aggies slip a half game behind Tennessee with a 7-2 record in the conference and are now 15-7 overall. This is coach Buzz Williams’ team’s second loss in the conference in their past four games after winning their first five games to open up their SEC slate. A&M will get a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday at 8:30pm, when they host 14-7 Georgia in a game that can be seen on the SEC Network.
Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks have won three of their last four games and will look to improve on their record Saturday at 3:30pm as they hit the road to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks who are sitting at 8-14 and have just won one SEC conference game so far this season.