Here are @jacksoncollier's key takeaways from today's loss to A&M...
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It was an uncharacteristic showing by Arkansas in the SEC Tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon.
Facing a team playing its third game in as many days, the Razorbacks showed barely any signs of life in a disappointing 82-64 loss to Texas A&M at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Fla.
“Our staff was phenomenal in the preparation for that (quick turnaround), and then we got with our guys last night for mental practice, and they were as good as they've been all year,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “And then this morning as we went through walk-through and film, you could see that the synergy between the staff and the players on what we needed to do was really good.”
That was something Arkansas wing Stanley Umude noted in the postgame press conference.
“I think they were just more together than us through the whole game,” Umude said. “We didn't have a lead, I don't think, at all the whole game, so they just did a good job of managing their lead, and we couldn't get over that hump.”
Umude is correct — the Razorbacks never led and it was tied for just over two minutes before Texas A&M started the scoring with a Tyrece Radford 3-pointer.
Although Arkansas kept the game fairly close, the team never played particularly well. The lead seemed to increase in increments for the Aggies, as they hovered around a five-point lead for the first ten minutes of the game, and then closed out the remainder of the first half maintaining close to a 10-point cushion. The Razorbacks went into halftime down 36-24.
Comebacks aren’t unusual for the Razorbacks, as they have grown a reputation as a second-half team. Typically they expand their halftime lead or come from behind for a victory, but that wasn’t the case Saturday.
Arkansas did show a brief sign of life when a dunk by Au’Diese Toney and back-to-back 3s by Umude pulled it within three, but the Aggies immediately answered with five quick points and the rout was on.
Texas A&M senior guard and leading scorer Quenton Jackson was confident even when their lead was cut to three.
“I would say basketball is a game of runs,” Jackson said. “They went on their run. We went on our run. At the end of the day…it's a testament to everything we've been through earlier in the season. Losing eight straight will teach you something. When things are not going our way, we know to stay calm. We know to stay collected. We know to stay together, and that helped us.”
Over the final 11 minutes, Texas A&M outscored the Razorbacks 30-17 and ultimately beat them by 18 — Arkansas’ worst loss since a 22-point loss to Oklahoma three months ago. Head coach Eric Musselman said it would not be a “burn the tape” kind of game.
“Right now I'm worried about this game, the holes,” Musselman said. “We don't have anybody to prepare for right now. So the NCAA tournament, we'll worry about that tomorrow. I'll do our postgame reports and get film to guys individually. There will be a lot of it because we have to get better. That's not how we want to play.
“So I'm not brushing this under and crumbling up the stat sheet and saying, well, tomorrow we get to see who we're playing against, and we'll get ready for the NCAA tournament tonight. No. We have to dissect this game. And then like I said, when we know who our opponent is, we'll get ready to play them.”
Here are some other key takeaways from the loss…
No Star Power
Arkansas’ pair of All-SEC first-team selections played well below their standards Saturday, and the Razorbacks paid for it.
Neither Jaylin Williams nor JD Notae scored in double figures, combining for just nine points. The pair also committed eight of the team’s 15 turnovers and shot a combined 4 of 13 from the field and missed all six of their 3-point attempts.
“I just think (Notae) is the engine and I think (Williams) is the most skilled guy, taller than 6-2 in our league, and those two guys, you can't guard him with one guy,” Buzz Williams said. “And they have such a high IQ. And so most of our prep work was related to those two guys and how we were going to handle a lot of their actions.”
While Notae did finish with five assists and four rebounds and Williams grabbed nine boards of his own, the pair struggled mightily throughout the game.
As he has several times this year, Notae picked up a couple of early fouls. Unlike previous games, though, he actually played some in the first half with those two fouls and eventually picked up a third before halftime.
“J.D., obviously, the foul trouble was problematic,” Musselman said. “It wasn't just offense. I can't remember J.D.'s defense like that since we've been together. So it was both sides of the basketball to be honest with you. It wasn't just -- it wasn't just offense.”
Toney, Umude Step Up
In the absence of their two stars, the Razorbacks needed to fill that void from somewhere. Umude and Toney tried their best today, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
They scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, while also logging the most minutes on the team. Umude played 35 minutes and Toney, in his second game back from injury, played 39 minutes. The next closest player was Devo Davis with 30 minutes.
Despite being the best performers of the day for Arkansas, Toney and Umude recorded the worst plus-minus numbers on the team. Toney was minus-23 and Umude was minus-15. Jaxson Robinson (+4) and KK Robinson (+1) were the only positives in the plus-minus statistic for the Razorbacks, as they got some late minutes.
(Story continues below)
Key takeaways, box score from Arkansas' 82-64 loss to Texas A&M
HawgBeat brings you several key takeaways from Arkansas' loss to Texas A&M in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
It was an uncharacteristic showing by Arkansas in the SEC Tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon.
Facing a team playing its third game in as many days, the Razorbacks showed barely any signs of life in a disappointing 82-64 loss to Texas A&M at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Fla.
“Our staff was phenomenal in the preparation for that (quick turnaround), and then we got with our guys last night for mental practice, and they were as good as they've been all year,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “And then this morning as we went through walk-through and film, you could see that the synergy between the staff and the players on what we needed to do was really good.”
That was something Arkansas wing Stanley Umude noted in the postgame press conference.
“I think they were just more together than us through the whole game,” Umude said. “We didn't have a lead, I don't think, at all the whole game, so they just did a good job of managing their lead, and we couldn't get over that hump.”
Umude is correct — the Razorbacks never led and it was tied for just over two minutes before Texas A&M started the scoring with a Tyrece Radford 3-pointer.
Although Arkansas kept the game fairly close, the team never played particularly well. The lead seemed to increase in increments for the Aggies, as they hovered around a five-point lead for the first ten minutes of the game, and then closed out the remainder of the first half maintaining close to a 10-point cushion. The Razorbacks went into halftime down 36-24.
Comebacks aren’t unusual for the Razorbacks, as they have grown a reputation as a second-half team. Typically they expand their halftime lead or come from behind for a victory, but that wasn’t the case Saturday.
Arkansas did show a brief sign of life when a dunk by Au’Diese Toney and back-to-back 3s by Umude pulled it within three, but the Aggies immediately answered with five quick points and the rout was on.
Texas A&M senior guard and leading scorer Quenton Jackson was confident even when their lead was cut to three.
“I would say basketball is a game of runs,” Jackson said. “They went on their run. We went on our run. At the end of the day…it's a testament to everything we've been through earlier in the season. Losing eight straight will teach you something. When things are not going our way, we know to stay calm. We know to stay collected. We know to stay together, and that helped us.”
Over the final 11 minutes, Texas A&M outscored the Razorbacks 30-17 and ultimately beat them by 18 — Arkansas’ worst loss since a 22-point loss to Oklahoma three months ago. Head coach Eric Musselman said it would not be a “burn the tape” kind of game.
“Right now I'm worried about this game, the holes,” Musselman said. “We don't have anybody to prepare for right now. So the NCAA tournament, we'll worry about that tomorrow. I'll do our postgame reports and get film to guys individually. There will be a lot of it because we have to get better. That's not how we want to play.
“So I'm not brushing this under and crumbling up the stat sheet and saying, well, tomorrow we get to see who we're playing against, and we'll get ready for the NCAA tournament tonight. No. We have to dissect this game. And then like I said, when we know who our opponent is, we'll get ready to play them.”
Here are some other key takeaways from the loss…
No Star Power
Arkansas’ pair of All-SEC first-team selections played well below their standards Saturday, and the Razorbacks paid for it.
Neither Jaylin Williams nor JD Notae scored in double figures, combining for just nine points. The pair also committed eight of the team’s 15 turnovers and shot a combined 4 of 13 from the field and missed all six of their 3-point attempts.
“I just think (Notae) is the engine and I think (Williams) is the most skilled guy, taller than 6-2 in our league, and those two guys, you can't guard him with one guy,” Buzz Williams said. “And they have such a high IQ. And so most of our prep work was related to those two guys and how we were going to handle a lot of their actions.”
While Notae did finish with five assists and four rebounds and Williams grabbed nine boards of his own, the pair struggled mightily throughout the game.
As he has several times this year, Notae picked up a couple of early fouls. Unlike previous games, though, he actually played some in the first half with those two fouls and eventually picked up a third before halftime.
“J.D., obviously, the foul trouble was problematic,” Musselman said. “It wasn't just offense. I can't remember J.D.'s defense like that since we've been together. So it was both sides of the basketball to be honest with you. It wasn't just -- it wasn't just offense.”
Toney, Umude Step Up
In the absence of their two stars, the Razorbacks needed to fill that void from somewhere. Umude and Toney tried their best today, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
They scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, while also logging the most minutes on the team. Umude played 35 minutes and Toney, in his second game back from injury, played 39 minutes. The next closest player was Devo Davis with 30 minutes.
Despite being the best performers of the day for Arkansas, Toney and Umude recorded the worst plus-minus numbers on the team. Toney was minus-23 and Umude was minus-15. Jaxson Robinson (+4) and KK Robinson (+1) were the only positives in the plus-minus statistic for the Razorbacks, as they got some late minutes.
(Story continues below)
