Coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks (15-10, 4-8 SEC) fell on the road Saturday afternoon after losing to the No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies, 69-61, at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
Through the first 4:18 minutes, the Hoop Hogs pitched an 8-0 shutout against the Aggies, who started the game 0-of-7 from the field. A Flagrant 1 foul against Texas A&M helped Arkansas' momentum, and an early three from Johnell Davis pushed the advantage further.
Nothing good lasts forever, though, as Texas A&M extended its defense and Arkansas failed to adapt in the half-court. By the 8:26 mark in the first half, the Aggies led, 17-13.
Arkansas continued to battle and despite having nine turnovers, only trailed by two, 25-23, with 3:53 minutes left in the half. Freshman wing Karter Knox led the team in scoring with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.
By halftime, Texas A&M had pushed its lead to 33-28 after a three-point make on its final offensive possession. Arkansas guards DJ Wagner and Davis dealt with foul trouble for most of the first half, and the recently reliable Zvonimir Ivisic was a no-show in the first 20 minutes.
Texas A&M opened up the second half strong and led by as much as seven points on multiple occassions, but Arkansas hung around. After a media timeout with 13:51 minutes left, back-to-back layups by Adou Thiero and Davis, respectively, pulled the Hogs back into the game, down 46-43.
After tying the game at 50 with under 10 minutes to go, the Aggies proceeded to go on a 9-0 run that killed any momentum Arkansas had in the game. The Razorbacks never quite got over the hump, and dropped their eighth SEC game as a result.
Leading the way for Arkansas was Knox, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal. Ivisic added 13 points, six boards and four blocks while Thiero scored 10 points of his own.
Below are game highlights and social media reactions from Arkansas' conference loss...
HIGHLIGHTS
