Razorback senior guard Stanley Umude (#0) from San Antonio, TX takes a short jumper against South Carolina at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
Nate Allen
FAYETTEVILLE - The still surprise of the SEC Texas A&M Aggies and the hot-starting, then slumping but since resurrected, Razorbacks rematch tonight at Walton Arena.
Texas A&M, 15-3 overall and 4-1 in the SEC and an 86-81 victor over Arkansas on Jan. 8 at the Aggies’ Reed Arena in College Station, Texas, and the Razorbacks, 13-5 overall and 3-3 in the SEC after a skidding 0-3 SEC start, tip off at 7:30 p.m. tonight on the SEC Network at Walton.
Coach Buzz Williams’ Aggies come off a loss, but a nationally respected hard-fought 64-58 one to nationally No. 12 Kentucky in Wednesday’s packed house SEC game that A&M dominated into the second half at College Station.
“That was as good a game as you could watch,” Arkansas assistant coach Gus Argenal said Thursday of viewing the A&M vs. Kentucky game on TV. “The physicality and how tough they are, turning Kentucky over 18 times like they did to us. Pressuring the ball. It came down to the wire in a great environment. So we definitely have seen the improvement of their team.”
And from the Hogs. For even with Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman finally undergoing torn rotator cuff surgery that no longer could be delayed and missing one game entirely and coaching the next one in a harness, the Razorbacks in succession defeated Missouri, 87-43 at Walton, then No. 12 LSU, 64-58 at Baton Rouge, La. and South Carolina, 75-59 at Walton.
Argenal, pinch-hitting for Musselman in Thursday’s presser as Musselman tries just a bit to lighten his load while still recovering, said, “There’s definitely been a next man up type situation,” as the Razorbacks rallied from their SEC skid and their coach’s pain since Musselman’s several weeks ago inadvertent collision in practice with burly power forward Trey Wade. “We had the Missouri game that really allowed us to get out of a hole. We played a great 40 minutes of basketball. And to go from there and not have a hangover in some sense and go (interim head coached by assistant Keith Smart) to LSU and play well there and just scrap away and then to come home (with Musselman coaching harnessed against South Carolina) and not let down. Those three games have been a different situation. And now it’s trying to get another win and not take a step back.”
Both the Aggies and Hogs took one step back from their Jan. 8 meeting.
In College Station, the Razorback hit six 3-pointers, five by JD Notae in a 31-point performance, and the Aggies hit eight threes.
Against South Carolina the Hogs went 0 for 11 shooting threes, Arkansas’ first game with a trey in 1,092 games since 1989.
Against Kentucky the Aggies hit but 1 of 22 treys.
Never mind. Both teams are capable of good 3-point streaks but obviously off recent performances still dangerous even if the treys don’t fall.
“They are a team that is extremely tough from watching them all year,” Argenal said. “And they are improving obviously to play that well against a nationally ranked team (Kentucky).”
The Aggies thrive on forcing turnovers, 18 each forced upon Arkansas and Kentucky.
Against Arkansas, A&M”s 28-16 points off turnovers advantage completely turned around the game despite Arkansas outrebounding the Aggies.
Arkansas has since either cut its turnovers drastically, eight against Mizzou and 11 against South Carolina and even committing 19 turnovers against LSU cut down the live ball turnovers so often immediately turned to opposition offense.
Not coincidentally, reducing its turnovers has vastly helped Arkansas improve its defense holding three opponents under 60 points after the Aggies scored 86.
“Take care of the ball for sure,” Arkansas via University of South Dakota graduate transfer forward Stanley Umude said of what the Hogs must do in the rematch. “That’s probably the No. 1 thing for us. And limit their second chance points. Just rebound it and make sure we handle the pressure the right way.”
Outrebounding the athletic Aggies by 14 normally would have meant a victory but for A&M capitalizing on the turnovers.
“It seemed like a majority of their top guys were double-figures scoring,” Umude said. “We've got to do a better job of keying in on each individual guy because they have a lot of different guys that do different things.”
Five Aggies, Quenton Jackson, Henry Coleman, Andre Gordon, Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor, respectively scored 16, 14, 13, 12 and 11 points on Arkansas in College Station.
Notae hasn’t approached 31 in a game since Jan. 8 but plays better in many ways.
Committing five turnovers as an off guard against A&M, Notae mainly handling the ball more than ever on the point committed zero turnovers while scoring 19 against Mizzou. He logged four assists vs. three turnovers scoring 19 against LSU, and against South Carolina five assists against four turnovers and scored 17 points.
Though only 6-2, Notae stunned South Carolina blocking three shots.
Arkansas biggest regular starter, 6-10 sophomore Jaylin Williams played big at College Station with a 10-points/11 rebounds double-double plus two blocked shots. Williams has played even bigger since. He logged 13 points, 10 rebounds and two steals and three assists against Mizzou, 11 points, including a game-sealing 3-pointer, 13 rebounds and three steals against LSU and a career high 19 points with nine rebounds against South Carolina.
Reserve Arkansas forward Kamani Johnson is questionable off the sprained ankle idling him the last two games.
Razorback senior guard Stanley Umude (#0) from San Antonio, TX attempts a three pointer against South Carolina Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR
Razorback senior guard Stanley Umude (#0) from San Antonio, TX shoots a free throw against South Carolina Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR.
