Texas A&M was one of only five victorious Southeastern Conference teams over the weekend, and the Aggies will try to notch another win when they host Arkansas Tuesday night in Fayetteville, Ark.
Coach Buzz Williams’ Aggies (15-6, 7-1) did not participate in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge — where the SEC received a 7-3 whipping in the final edition of the annual nonconference slate — but they did rally at home after blowing a 13-point lead Saturday against Vanderbilt
The Commodores went on a 15-1 run late in the second half and led by a point with 2:59 left, but the home side held them scoreless, scored five points and hung on for a 72-66 win. It was a second straight victory for the Aggies after they dropped their first SEC game against Kentucky on Jan. 21.
Henry Coleman III led with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He gave credit to the home crowd – the Aggies’ 12th Man.
“I thought this was the best environment we had all year,” said Coleman, who added six rebounds. “They definitely played a big factor in us winning tonight.
“Coach (Williams) said we had to get back to being us. We had to make it a grimy game … a physical game. Credit to (Vanderbilt) for coming out and kind of punching us in the mouth first and shooting the ball really well and rebounding well.”
Arkansas (14-7, 3-5) got 25 points from Ricky Council IV but was one of the SEC teams to lose in the challenge’s final year, suffering a 67-64 setback at then-No. 17 Baylor.
After producing wins by double-digit margins over Ole Miss and LSU in their previous two outings, the Razorbacks nearly pulled even at the end. But Davonte Davis missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Joseph Pinion missed the potential tying 3-pointer.
“The one thing that you always want from your basketball team is to play as hard as they possibly can,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “Anybody that was here walked away and saw a great basketball game. I feel for the locker room.”
In their most recent meeting, Texas A&M blew out Arkansas 82-64 in the semifinal round of the SEC tournament last March.
–Field Level Media
