Aggies roar back, down Razorbacks
COLLEGE STATION — A half-mile from Reed Arena and across the railroad tracks cutting through Texas A&M’s campus, the Aggies and Arkansas spent decades mixing it up as old Southwest Conference foes in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The SWC and the tightquartered “Jollie Rollie” are long gone, but those who took part in the rivalry back when will be pleased to know it still thrives in the Southeastern Conference — and there was plenty of mixing it up Wednesday night at Reed.
A&M edged Arkansas 62-56 before a rowdy, latenight crowd, giving the Aggies four consecutive victories in SEC play. A&M is trying to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years, and the latest ESPN projections have coach Buzz Williams’ fourth Aggies squad firmly in after being just outside the field of 68 the past couple of weeks.
“It just shows how gritty our team is,” A&M guard Wade Taylor IV said of the Aggies wiping out a double-digit firsthalf deficit. “We don’t want it the easy way, and our fans made this game amazing. We know our shots aren’t going to fall all the time, but we can always hang our hats on defense.”
The Razorbacks, who feature an uber-talented roster that was expected to contend for a national title, have lost consecutive league games following a 70-64 home loss to Mississippi State on Saturday.
Wednesday’s game was tied 53-53 when A&M guard Dexter Dennis grabbed an offensive rebound and his putback lifted A&M to a 2-point lead with 3:14 remaining. The Aggies increased their lead to 57-53 with 34 seconds left following an offensive rebound and putback by Henry Coleman III. Four free throws
by Dennis in the last 23 seconds helped seal the A&M victory.
“It feels like every game is like this,” Dennis said when asked about Reed’s rowdiness from start to finish. “We’re playing for something bigger than ourselves, (like every game) is the biggest game of our Texas A&M career. Emotionally we’re really, really invested.”
Taylor led all scorers with 18 points, including a burst of 11 points in the first four minutes of the second half to keep the Aggies in the game.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” Taylor said when reminded the Aggies had an eight-game losing streak in the middle of SEC play a year ago. “We’re just enjoying the time, because you never know when it’s going to end …”
The Razorbacks (17-9, 6-7 SEC) built a 33-24 lead at halftime thanks in part to making 4-of-6 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, including 3-of-4 by guard Davonte Davis. A&M (19-7, 11-2) gained back some momentum entering the second half when Aggies guard Hayden Hefner sank a 3-pointer at the top of the key at the halftime buzzer, eliminating a double-digit deficit.
The latest CBS Sports mock NBA draft has two Arkansas players in the top 10: freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. at No. 4 overall and freshman guard Anthony Black at No. 10 overall. Smith didn’t score in four minutes of play in the first half, and Black finished with 9 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was asked afterward why Smith didn’t play in the second half.
“We’re just trying to win a game and keep our season alive,” said Musselman, who took the Razorbacks to consecutive Elite Eights of the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.
The Razorbacks won the first meeting with A&M 81-70 on Jan. 31 in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. A&M heads back on the road for a 5 p.m. Saturday game at Missouri. The Aggies defeated the then-No. 20 Tigers 82-64 on Jan. 11 at Reed Arena. Six Aggies scored in double digits in the first meeting, and the Aggies shot 65 percent from the floor in the second half of the 18-point win.
Missouri (19-7, 7-6) will try and rebound from its worst loss of the season: 89-56 at Auburn on Tuesday night. Meantime, A&M will continue enjoying its best start in league play since joining the SEC in the summer of 2012.
“Since Santa Claus came, we’ve won 13 out of 15,” Williams said of the Aggies’ impressive stretch of games since Christmas. “… The (players) have responded to the changes that we made, and they’re willing to do the work required to just maybe have a chance for success. And this staff has been as good as I’ve ever been around.
“… We’re in this position because of the character of the people involved. They just don’t flinch — they don’t blink. … I think our guys really care and they want to give their best.”