Mason Jones broke out of a shooting slump at a perfect time and Arkansas did just enough to steal a conference win on the road Saturday night.
After making just one of his previous 17 shots, the sophomore made three straight three-pointers in a two-minute stretch to help propel the Razorbacks to a 73-71 win at Texas A&M to open SEC play.
Trailing by two points with about five minutes left, Jones knocked off the ice and drilled his first shot beyond the arc since the Texas State game two weeks ago.
TJ Starks, who scored a game-high 23 points for the Aggies, immediately answered with a layup, but Isaiah Joe made a three-pointer to put Arkansas back on top for the 16th and final lead change of the game.
Texas A&M managed to tie it up again, but back-to-back threes by Jones put the Razorbacks up for good.
“That’s what happens when you get into SEC play, man,” head coach Mike Anderson said on the SEC Network afterward. “We just had guys come up with big plays going down the stretch.”
Although Arkansas stretched its lead to eight points with a minute and a half left, it nearly gave it away at the free throw line.
In the final minute, the Razorbacks made only four of their 10 free throws. That included 1 of 4 by Jalen Harris and 2 of 4 by Joe, who entered the game shooting 79.5 and 76.5 percent, respectively, from the charity stripe.
That gave the Aggies two chances at game-tying three-pointers in the last 20 seconds, but Brandon Mahan and Starks couldn’t connect on them. They also had a desperation heave at the buzzer, but Joe’s missed free throw rolled off the rim perfectly, giving Texas A&M the ball more than 90 feet away from the basket with only 2.2 seconds left.
Despite the missed free throws, Harris led Arkansas in scoring with 15 points, but his biggest impact was yet again as a distributor. He dished nine assists with no turnovers.
The Razorbacks also got a career-high 14 points from Desi Sills. He provided an offensive spark in the first half, scoring 13 points to help his team go to halftime with a 32-31 lead.
The only other Arkansas players in double figures were Joe and Daniel Gafford, who had 11 points apiece.
Gafford also pulled down 11 rebounds to give him his seventh double-double of the season. That total includes six of the Razorbacks’ season-high 17 offensive boards.
In addition to Starks’ 23 points, most of Texas A&M’s offensive production came from Savion Flagg, who had 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Arkansas (10-3, 1-0 SEC) returns to Fayetteville for its next two conference games, beginning with a matchup with Florida on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and it will be televised on the SEC Network.
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