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Texas A&M holds Arkansas in check for fifth straight win
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Texas A&M held strong at home against pesky Arkansas, walking away with a 69-61 victory at Reed Arena on Saturday to run its win streak to 5 games.
The upset-minded Razorbacks were tied with the Aggies 50-50 with just over 8 minutes remaining, but a 9-0 run — capped by a Henry Coleman III putback on his own miss — made it 59-50 with about 5 minutes to go as the Razorbacks would get no closer than 7 the rest of the way.
The Aggies (20-5, 9-3 SEC) looked as if they’d make quick work of the Razorbacks as they scored the first 8 points of the contest, but a 9-0 Arkansas run put them ahead 9-8 with 7 minutes gone by in the opening frame. A see-saw first half saw Texas A&M eventually take a 33-28 lead to the locker room.
The Razorbacks (15-10, 4-8 SEC) got the Aggies’ lead to 2 (41-39) just under 5 minutes into the second half, but A&M went up 46-39 on an alley-oop dunk powered home by Zhuric Phelps. Arkansas, though, refused to go quietly as they knotted things at 50 before the Aggies pulled away for good.
Wade Taylor IV led all scorers with 18 points; despite shooting just 4-of-13 from the floor, he was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Phelps added 12 points and 9 rebounds, ending the day just shy of a double-double, while Andersson Garcia chipped in 11.
Karter Knox was Arkansas’ top scorer with 17. Zvonimir Ivisic had 13 while Adou Thiero tacked on 10.
Arkansas turned the ball over 17 times to A&M’s 10, with those 17 turnovers leading to 22 points for the Aggies. A&M held a 34-22 edge in the paint.
The Aggies head to Mississippi State next for a Tuesday night game. Arkansas faces No. 1 Auburn on Wednesday.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
