Razorbacks surge to win in SEC opener
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy dubbed his Aggies and Arkansas “two young teams trying to figure out how to win.”
The Razorbacks figured it out quicker. Arkansas defeated A&M 73-71 on Saturday in Reed Arena in the teams’ Southeastern Conference opener.
“Welcome to the SEC,” Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson said. “There were 16 lead changes in this game.”
Arkansas (10-3, 1-0 SEC) grabbed the lead when it counted most, in heating up from the 3-point line with about five minutes left. Mason Jones, Isaiah Joe and then Jones again drained 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions.
“That’s a miscommunication between the players, not knowing where ( Jones) was,” A&M forward Savion Flagg said.
Even when Jones missed a 3pointer during that late stretch, as he did with 2:04 left, Gabe Osabuohien was there to snag the rebound on a possession capped by a Jalen Harris driving layup in the paint.
“We’re a young team, but we got our first (win) under our belt on the road, so that’s pretty big,” Harris said.
Jones was 3 of 11 from the 3-point line, but sank his long-range offerings under pressure. He grew up in DeSoto and his sister, Jordan, was a point guard at A&M three years ago for Gary Blair’s Aggies.
“I knew we had another run in us,” Jones said of the Razorbacks’ late surge. “I knew I was going to pick it up.”
It marked the first time in four tries that the Razorbacks won at A&M in an SEC opener. Arkansas’ associate head coach is Melvin Watkins, who was the Aggies’ head coach when Reed Arena opened more than 20 years ago.
“It’s the annual game, it’s the old ‘Southwest Conference Classic’ or something,” Anderson said with a smile. “It just seems like this is an annual deal. But this was a game for the fans — it went down to the wire.”
The Aggies had won five games in a row over late November and through most of December, but had lost the week before to Texas Southern 88-73 in Reed Arena, leading to the first game of conference play.
The Aggies are trying to return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons, but were picked 12th out of 14 teams in SEC competition after losing most of their lineup from last season, including forward Robert Williams, now with the Boston Celtics.
Things don’t get easier from here for the Aggies, as they go on the road for their next two at No. 13 Kentucky on Tuesday and at Alabama on Saturday.
“We played hard and gave ourselves a chance to win, we just didn’t make enough plays,” Kennedy said.
A&M guard T.J. Starks, who started once again after coming off the bench in the Aggies’ last two games, led all scorers with 23 points. Flagg led all rebounders with 15, but it was all for naught in the league opener.
“It’s going to hurt the rest of the day, but we have to move on,” Flagg said. “We have Kentucky on Tuesday.”