Wade Taylor IV scored 18 points and keyed a late Texas A&M surge as the eighth-ranked Aggies pulled away over the final eight minutes for a 69-61 win over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference clash in College Station, Texas.
A&M never trailed after the 12:30 mark of the first half. The game was tied at 50 with just over eight minutes to play until the Aggies (20-5, 9-3 SEC) reeled off a 9-0 run culminated by a putback layup by Henry Coleman III with 5:08 remaining.
A layup and then a free throw by Andersson Garcia stoked the A&M lead to a game-high 11 points with 2:45 to play. Arkansas never got closer than seven points the rest of the way as the Aggies won their fifth straight game.
Zhuric Phelps added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for A&M while Garcia had 11 points.
Karter Knox led the Razorbacks (15-10, 4-8 SEC) with 17 points while Zvonimir Ivisic added 13 and Adou Thiero had 10 points before he fouled out with 2:45 to play. Arkansas has dropped two of its past three games.
The Razorbacks owned the game’s initial four-plus minutes, roaring out to an 8-0 lead after Johnell Davis’ 3-pointer at the 16:43 mark. Texas A&M missed its first seven shots and committed three turnovers in that opening stretch that put it behind the eight-ball early on.
Phelps’ jumper with 15:01 remaining in the half finally got the Aggies on the board. His 3-pointer and then a dunk and a layup from Pharrel Payne — the latter at the 12:59 mark — propelled A&M into a 10-9 lead.
The teams traded the lead through the rest of the half, with a 3-pointer by C.J. Wilcher with 25 seconds to play giving A&M a 33-28 advantage at the break.
Knox led all scorers with nine points before halftime, while Phelps’ seven points paced the Aggies.
A&M expanded its lead to seven points twice over the first five and a half minutes of the second half, the second on a Phelps steal and dunk with 14:26 to play. Arkansas swung back, getting layups from Thiero and Davis to pull to within 46-43 with 13:21 left.
–Field Level Media
