5 observations from Arkansas' 86-77 win over Texas A&M

Arkansas forward Trey Thompson handles the ball during a game against Texas A&M on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, in Fayetteville.

— Five observations, with video, from Arkansas' 86-77 win over Texas A&M.

— Trey Thompson takeover

Oliver Miller was in Bud Walton on Wednesday to be recognized as this year’s Arkansas’ SEC Legend. Teammates Lee Mayberry (on the support staff) and Todd Day were also in attendance, but Miller was the one honored at midcourt during the first half.

Meanwhile, Trey Thompson continued to stake his claim as the Razorbacks’ best passing big since the Big O.

He finished with a modest 5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block, but dished a career-high 6 assists and was a team-best +17 in 18 minutes, the third straight game he’s played at least that much after hitting the benchmark just twice in the first 25 games.

Arkansas' adjusted offensive ratings of 119.8, 127.6 and 125.5 in that trio of games rank sixth, second and third among its 16 power-conference matchups. Obviously not all that can be attributed to Thompson's increased minutes, but there is a correlation for a reason.

His passing is sublime.


Arkansas’ halfcourt offense flows best with Thompson on the court because he will find open teammates, incentivizing said teammates to work to get open. He entered the night with a team-best 3.9 assists per 40 minutes. That number has been on the rise lately.

Kingsley is the single most important player on the team, but Thompson was the better option at times Wednesday. The 2 of them played together for 8:34, during which the Hogs outscored A&M 25-23, including 17-12 over the last 5 minutes.

It’s evident they’re the 2 best bigs on the roster. The extra minutes lately have given Thompson a chance to showcase his all-around game and basketball smarts. Fans are taking notice.

He received a big hand from the crowd when he checked out for a brief rest in the second half. It wasn’t as loud as Miller’s ovation earlier in the game, but it was easily the loudest a Razorback player received over the course of the game.

— Barford answers call, steps up

Play was stopped so Jaylen Barford and Kobie Eubanks could be separated after they exchanged words with 4:18 left and Arkansas up 69-67. What followed was the defining stretch of the game, a Mano a Mano showdown between the 2 players over the course of the next 48 seconds.


Eubanks was whistled for the off-ball foul in the initial exchange, sending Barford to the line, where he calmly sank a pair of foul shots. But Eubanks had a retort, beating an overeager Barford with a backdoor cut for an easy layup to cut the lead back to 2.

Barford, of course, wound up with the ball on the next possession and drilled a stepback 18-footer over Eubanks.

He sealed the mini run by pouncing when Eubanks bobbled a pass, swiping the ball and finishing on the other end with a sweet Eurostep. He let Eubanks hear about it all the way back up the court and even after A&M called timeout.

Todd Day appeared to love what he saw from his courtside seat. Barford’s 6-point personal spurt marked a turning point in the game, giving Arkansas a 75-69 lead with 3:30 left. The Aggies never got closer than 6 the rest of the way.

Barford finished with a team-high 16 points in just 24 minutes. He missed all 3 of his 3-pointers, but was again hitting his mid-range jumpers. He knocked down XX and had another waved off in the second half because it left his hand just after the shot clock expired.

He is averaging 17.7 points over the course of his last 7 games, a string of performances that include 3 games of 20 or more. Combining better jump shooting with his ability to get to the basket in halfcourt and transition has taken his game to another level at the right time of the year.

Barford looks comfortable. He didn’t shy away from talking a little trash Wednesday and he backed it up.

— Pressure gets to Aggies

Texas A&M entered the night as the most turnover-prone team in the SEC during conference play, with a ghastly 23.2 turnover percentage.

Mike Anderson adjusted his defense accordingly, opting for more pressure than the Hogs had shown in the last three games combined when the emergence of the zone helped steady a largely porous defense.

It was a calculated play by Anderson and the coaching staff and largely paid off. Texas A&M turned the ball over 17 times, 24.3 percent of its possessions. The Hogs scored 19 points off those turnovers, a key advantage and a way they ramped up the pace against a slow-down Aggie squad.

Whereas the Hogs had mostly stayed in a conservative shell the last few games, they ramped up the traps. A&M’s guards didn’t handle it well, shades of how the Alabama backcourt struggled in Bud Walton a few weeks back.



The Hogs pressed the Aggies fullcourt more than they had the last 3 games combined. They never forced a turnover off the press, but were able to harass A&M’s ballhandlers as the heat seemingly wore on the Aggies down the stretch.

The tactics took time off the shot clock and prevented A&M from easily getting the ball into the paint to its talented bigs. And when they did get it inside, the Hogs sent help, doubling on the touch most of the night.


Sometimes it led to turnovers. When the doubles didn’t work, the Hogs were in trouble. But the Aggies may very well have feasted even more in the post had it not been for the extra bodies the Hogs threw at them.

A&M exploited the pressure a few times, taking advantage of it with backcuts, using the extended floor to free up the paint and beating the full-court pressure to generate layups and foul shots on several occasions.

But the Aggies couldn’t get enough buckets against the press to tilt the math in their favor and it took a cumulative toll as the game wore on.

Billy Kennedy hypothesized that, even when they beat the press, the Hogs had them where they wanted. Arkansas got the Aggies playing faster than they’re comfortable, which led to them wearing down against Arkansas’ depth.

That’s exactly what the pressure is designed to do. It hasn’t worked that way most of the year. Wednesday, it did.

Anderson has done a good job sussing out what defensive measures will work against different opponents lately. With this roster, the zone has been far superior against teams with good guard play. But the man defense and extended pressure can still be effective against shorthanded or subpar backcourts. That's what happened Wednesday.

— No answer for Davis, Williams

Tyler Davis made his first 6 shots and finished with 21 points on 9 of 10 rebounding. He averaged 17.5 points and 7 rebounds on a slightly efficient 13 of 15 shooting against the Hogs this year, besting Moses Kingsley in both match ups.

Robert Williams had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. His length and athleticism allowed him to stifle this Kingsley post-up even after Kingsley established deep position.


Williams is only 6-foot-9, but possesses a 7-4 wingspan and elite athleticism for his size, a combination that has made him a potential lottery pick by several reputable draft prognosticators. He is the most athletic Aggie big since current LA Clippers All-Star DeAndre Jordan.

This was a Jordan-esque finish.


Williams hit a mid-range jumper Wednesday and has a developing offensive game, but at this stage he gets most of his points off of his athleticism, be it off dump-offs, putbacks or running the floor.

Davis, on the other hand, has a smooth, calculated offensive game. His skillset is impressive and his size makes defending him a chore. The double teams affected him at times, but Arkansas was toast if they didn’t.


Big-boy move. Texas A&M converted 17 of its 18 layups, a large part of the reason the Aggies posted a 110 offensive rating.

On the other end, the duo combined to hold Moses Kingsley in check. Kingsley entered Wednesday amidst a stretch of impressive showings, leading Anderson to proclaim that the old Moses, the SEC Preseason Player of the Year Moses, was back.

Texas A&M probably has the best front line in the SEC and Kingsley’s offensive game struggled against it Wednesday. He finished with 10 points, but made just 3 of 14 shots.

His post-up game was back to being inefficient. The Hogs averaged a measly 0.286 points per possession that ended in a Kingsley post-up.

He tried to go outside, but didn’t fair any better, hitting just 2 of 7 jumpers. It was a step back from an offensive standpoint, to be sure, but Kingsley found other ways to impact the game. He had 10 rebounds, 4 offensive, as Arkansas hung with the Aggies on the boards, only losing 35-33. He recorded 2 blocks.

Wednesday had a chance to be a showcase kind of game for Kingsley against the premier big-man duo in the SEC. It didn’t really work out that way, but he did enough to help the Hogs earn a win.

— Second-half aggression swings game

Texas A&M had only been whistled for 5 fouls and Arkansas had only taken 3 free throws in the first half. The Razorbacks led 36-33, but it felt like it was anyone’s game.

Arkansas changed course after halftime, attacking the rim and getting to the line. The Hogs scored 22 points in the paint in each half, but took 24 free throws in the second. They made 21, including 11 of 12 in the final 4:18 to keep the Aggies at bay. Daryl Macon finished 5 of 6, Moses Kingsley and Jaylen Barford each made their 4 attempts and Trey Thompson canned 3 of his 4.

The Hogs only attempted 15 3-pointers, a sizable dip after taking a season-high 29 against Ole Miss. But they offset it by playing aggressively and forcing the officials to make calls.

All five of the Razorbacks’ guards are adept at attacking the rim and the bigs combined to shoot 12 foul shots. The Hogs were the aggressor in the second half. That helped them win their fourth straight.

Stray Thoughts

— Miller was pumped late in the game, standing from his courtside seat and beckoning the crowd to make more noise with both hands. They obliged and he remained standing for at least the next possession. Todd Day sat with him. Miller stopped by Tuesday’s practice and both were at the shootaround Wednesday morning. Anton Beard presented Miller with the game ball as the final horn sounded, the same gesture he made to Bobby Portis after Saturday’s win over Ole Miss. It was a cool scene.

— The zone wasn’t quite as tight Wednesday. Texas A&M only made 6 of 21 3-pointers, but missed some good, open looks.

— Manny Watkins scored 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting and had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Got a few of his buckets by moving without the ball, but also knocked down a 3-pointer and hit an off-balance long 2 off the dribble late in the shot clock. His late-career offensive growth continues to impress and astound.

— Dustin Thomas had a nice game, finishing with 9 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes. He was 4 of 6 from the floor, displaying a better touch around the rim than he has most of this season, an impressive showing considering the Aggies’ length. He held his own when Thompson and Kingsley were parked on the bench with 2 fouls for the final 3 minutes of the first half. This marked the 4th straight game he’s played the most minutes of the Hogs’ nominal 4s. That’s a trend that figures to continue for the foreseeable future.

— This and the Ole Miss game marked the first time the Hogs have assisted on better than 50 percent of their makes in back-to-back games since Jan. 21. Hogs had 16 assists on 30 makes Wednesday after having 20 on 30 against the Rebels.

— A&M did a nice job neutralizing Dusty Hannahs’ 3-point shooting. He didn’t get many openings and only took 2. His make came off a nice double pindown set by Kingsley and Thompson on a very nice ATO.

— Liked Anderson using C.J. Jones as a situational sub for the final possession of the first half. The Hogs had the ball, so he gave them an extra shooter. He didn’t touch it, but it was a smart move. Moments earlier, Macon flung up a wild shot with 41 seconds remaining. It wasn’t a great look, but it served to give Arkansas a 2 for 1, a borderline mandated move in the NBA but one college teams rarely take advantage of for some reason.

— Solid crowd on hand. Have to think there’ll be a big one for the Georgia game if the Hogs split the two upcoming road games. They might even get close to a Senior-Day sellout if they win both.