IN THE LANE

Pair comes through for Razorbacks

Arkansas guard Manuale Watkins (21) brings down a rebound during an NCAA college basketball game against Texas A&M, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017 at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. (Timothy Hurst/College Station Eagle via AP)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Arkansas role players Manny Watkins and Arlando Cook came up clutch in the Razorbacks' 62-60 victory at Texas A&M on Tuesday.

Watkins made all three of his three-point attempts and provided tough defense on a potential go-ahead jumper from 6-9 Texas A&M guard D.J. Hogg with about 10 seconds remaining.

Cook, playing without a mask for the first time since breaking his nose during the Christmas holidays, led the Razorbacks with seven rebounds and shot 3 of 4 from the field.

Cook's rebounding work, particularly in the first half, helped Arkansas out-rebound a taller Texas A&M team 36-32.

The victory was especially sweet for Watkins, whose father Melvin was head coach at Texas A&M from 1998-99 through 2003-04.

"I've ran through these halls as a little kid, so it's special," Watkins said.

"It was good to see some guys who are role guys who were heroes tonight," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Manuale Watkins had made one three all year and made three tonight at a place where he grew up.

"I was really proud of Arlando Cook. I thought he really was a difference. We kind of unveiled him. We took the mask off and unveiled a player tonight that really helped us."

Cook had six rebounds in the first half and made two of three shots.

Key tip

Moses Kingsley had just one rebound before grabbing three offensive boards on one possession, capped by a go-ahead tip-in to put Arkansas ahead 57-56 with 3:17 remaining.

The Razorbacks never relinquished the lead and outrebounded the SEC's top rebounding team 36-32 thanks in large part to their 11 offensive rebounds, including five in the game's final four minutes. Arkansas joined Southern Cal, UCLA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Kentucky as the only teams to out-rebound Texas A&M in the Aggies' 17 games.

It marked the second consecutive game Arkansas won the rebounding battle after failing to do so in its first four SEC games.

Free-throw flip

Moses Kingsley made 3 of 4 free throws in the first half as the only Razorback to shoot from the line. Five Aggies combined to go 10 of 13 from the line in the first half.

Arkansas finished 13 of 21 from the line for 61.9 percent, its worst performance in an SEC game. Texas A&M finished 16 of 19.

Going low

Arkansas was held to less than 70 points for the first time this season. The Razorbacks entered the game ranked second in the SEC, averaging 82.2 points per game.

Texas A&M, who play at one of the slowest paces in college basketball, held the Razorbacks to 40.4 percent shooting, including 9 of 24 (37.5 percent) in the second half.

Taking Texas

Arkansas improved to 6-0 against teams from Texas this season. The Razorbacks are now 38-36 against the Aggies in College Station, Texas.

Line games

Arkansas' Daryl Macon had not missed more than one free throw in a game before going 9 of 12 against the Aggies. Macon missed both end of a pair of free throws in the first half, then missed the second of two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining. Making both would have put Arkansas ahead 63-60.

"I do not miss free throws on purpose," Macon said when asked if he was trying to make the Aggies scramble on their final possession. "That was a bad miss. I've got to go shoot 1,000 of them tomorrow."

Watkins wins

Arkansas assistant coach Melvin Watkins, the former Texas A&M head coach, had lost at Reed Arena in his last 14 games prior to Tuesday.

Watkins lost his last eight games as head coach of the Aggies, then lost six times as an assistant coach at Missouri and Arkansas with Mike Anderson.

Late denial

A trap by Manny Watkins and Moses Kingsley yielded a takeaway from Texas A&M guard Admon Gilder as he tried to run the clock down for a final shot to end the first half. Kingsley fired an outlet to Daryl Macon, who had a chance to tie the game 32-32 at the break. Macon drove in for a dunk, but Aggies big man Tony Trocha-Morelos swooped in to block the shot through Macon's hand just before the buzzer.

Early threes

Texas A&M did not connect on a three-pointer Saturday at Mississippi State until the final minute of the game, and finished 1 of 14 from beyond the arc in that game. Against the Razorbacks, guard Admon Gilder swished a three-pointer from the right corner at the 18:16 mark of the first half.

Gilder made a trio of three-pointers in the first 6:30 and D.J. Hogg added another later in the half.

Lost shoe

Texas A&M freshman Robert Williams played about 15 seconds of an Arkansas possession early in the second half after losing a shoe on the three-point arc.

Sports on 01/18/2017