Tramon Mark sank the game-winning shot in the final second to cap his career-high 35-point performance, and host Arkansas survived blowing a 20-point lead to defeat Texas A&M 78-77 for its first Southeastern Conference win of the season Wednesday night in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Razorbacks led by 20 points less than 12 minutes into the game before Wade Taylor IV carried the Aggies back into the game with his career-high 41 points.
After Mark made 1 of 2 foul shots with 14 seconds left for a 76-74 lead, Taylor gave Texas A&M its only lead of the game by drilling a 3-pointer falling down with 7.8 seconds left.
On the final play, Mark drove the length of the court and made a floater in the lane to beat the game clock by a second.
Mark shot 8 for 15 from the floor and 17 for 22 from the foul line for the Razorbacks (10-7, 1-3 SEC). El Ellis added 15 points and six rebounds.
Taylor made 13 of 32 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 14 from 3-point range, and 10 of 13 foul shots to power the Aggies’ futile comeback. Andersson Garcia added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Texas A&M committed just two turnovers but missed 10 of 33 free throws. Arkansas went 31-for-40 at the line.
Taylor made two foul shots followed by a critical 3-pointer to make it 73-70 Arkansas with 1:39 left. Mark made one free throw but Jace Carter drew a foul and made two shots to cut it to 74-72.
Taylor’s fastbreak layup finally tied the score with 50 seconds left, but Mark made 1 of 2 free throws with 27 seconds to go.
The Aggies shot 1 for 11 over the first eight minutes while Arkansas opened 6-for-10, producing a 17-3 Razorbacks lead. Mark sank four foul shots before adding a 3-pointer that made it 22-7.
It appeared the rout was on when Jeremiah Davenport entered and added eight straight points, including triples on back-to-back possessions, to make it 30-10 Arkansas at the 8:01 mark of the first half. Texas A&M chipped away at the deficit but settled for a 46-32 margin at intermission.
Taylor proceeded to score 13 of the Aggies’ first 14 points of the second half. He converted a difficult three-point play before knocking down a 3-pointer in transition 29 seconds later to cut the Arkansas lead to 50-46 with 13:10 to go.
–Field Level Media
