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...
CLICK HERE FOR HIGHLIGHTS AND REACTIONS
