Texas A&M – Arkansas
The eighth ranked Texas A&M Aggies welcomed the Arkansas Razorbacks in a SEC matchup at Reed Arena in College Station. At one point in the season this Razorback team was ranked in the top 20 in the country but has struggled to get their footing in the SEC. Arkansas was recently dealt a blow when they lost their starting point guard Boogie Fland to a hand injury that would require season ending surgery in late January.
Texas A&M has a very simple path to victory in this game, control the boards, take care of the ball, and get easy buckets at the rim. They are the most physical team in college basketball and have two major scoring threats in the back court in Zurich Phelps and Wade Taylor IV who benefit from the wear and tear the core of big men from A&M bring to the opposing team.
First Half
This game got off to a rocky start for the Aggies who went down 8-0 on a three point bucket by Johnell Davis just a little over three minutes into the game. Texas A&M was ice cold in the opening minutes until Phelps triggered a 13-2 run by the Aggies featuring a pair of emphatic dunks by Pharrell Payne and Solomon Washington on Arkansas big man Zvonimir Ivisič. Arkansas would be plagued by turnovers in the first half as they gave the ball up 10 times to this aggressive Texas A&M defense.
Arkansas would be helped along by Karter Knox with 9 first half points including a pair of threes that eliminated momentum for this Aggie team fueled by their hometown crowd. Arkansas would catch a break as Texas A&M would struggle shooting in the first half although, true to form, they would out-rebound the Razorbacks by 7. These two teams would go back and forth with the game tied 25-25 with three minutes to go. Texas A&M would get a few stops and close the first half on an 8-3 run with Aggie three point specialist CJ Wilcher hitting his second three of the half to send the Texas A&M into half up 33-28.
Second Half
This half would be full of runs where the Aggies would get some easy baskets by their front court created by dribble drives from Taylor IV. Arkansas would answer by going right after the Aggie defense drawing fouls and working for high percentage shots. This Arkansas team did an incredible job eliminating A&M’s main advantage by putting bodies on the Aggies and flying around to grab rebounds and push it down the floor. Texas A&M meanwhile suffered several uncharacteristic defensive lapses letting simple dribble handoffs lead to layups and dunks for Arkansas.
Karter Knox would continue to be a scoring threat and with 11:29 left to go in the game, he would hit a three of his team high 17 to tie the game 48-48. The Aggie’s senior forward Andersson Garcia would be a spark plug in this moment, hitting the floor for loose balls, rebounding, and playing with confidence on the offensive end in such a way that coach Buzz Williams was running the entire offense through him to open up opportunities for the guards to break open. Texas A&M would balloon the lead to nine on a tip in from Henry Coleman III with 5 minutes left to play.
The offense of Arkansas could not keep up with the motor of the Aggies as A&M looked more true to form in the final 7:30 of the game forcing Arkansas into 17 turnovers resulting in 22 points for the Aggies. In the end though, it would be Phelps and Taylor IV who would bring the Aggies home by taking care of the ball and making shots from the floor and at the free-throw line, finishing with 12 and 18 points respectively. Arkansas’ guard DJ Wagner would finish with a dunk and-one but miss the free-throw to bring the game to a close 69-61.
Conclusion and Looking Ahead
Texas A&M has been a great team to watch this season with intensity and physicality coupled with discipline and a dangerous offensive potential. In this game though, they were being outcompeted by an extremely physical Arkansas squad. Specifically, Arkansas’ DJ Wagner treated guarding Wade Taylor IV as a personal challenge and would serve as the blueprint for stopping the offensive efficiency of this Aggie team going forward.
Texas A&M is still an impressive team to watch in many aspects of the game. Solomon Washington has got to be the most capable defender in college basketball and their front court is great at pursuing the ball to get more possessions for the Aggies. They will have to find ways to set the pace early in their next game as they travel to Starkville Mississippi to take on the #22 Mississippi State Bulldogs. I believe Texas A&M will become more dangerous the more adversity they face in the latter parts of the season. The Aggies face the Bulldogs on Tuesday February 18th at 6:00 p.m. CST on the SEC Network.
Arkansas is a bit lost in the wind with the loss of Boogie Fland for the rest of the season. They have a load of talent and most of their team is incredibly physical. They struggle to score once the opposing team figures out to not jump at pump fakes and to keep the Razorback guards out of the paint, but if the game gets ugly, Arkansas has a chance at any game. They will travel to Auburn to take on the #1 ranked tigers on Wednesday February 19th at 8:00 p.m. on ESP.
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