FAYETTEVILLE -- The last time Texas A&M won a basketball game at Arkansas Shelby Metcalf was the Aggies' coach, Nolan Richardson was in his first season coaching the Razorbacks, Mike Anderson was a UA volunteer assistant and Ronald Reagan was president.
The game was in Barnhill Arena -- where the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville hasn't played since the 1992-93 season -- and the Razorbacks and Aggies were both in the Southwest Conference.
Barnhill Arena is now the home to Arkansas volleyball and gymnastics, sports which didn't exist at the UA when Texas A&M beat the Razorbacks 93-76 there on March 1, 1986.
Since then, the Aggies have lost nine consecutive games at Arkansas, including their final five visits to Barnhill Arena as SWC members and first four games in Walton Arena after following the Razorbacks to the SEC.
The Razorbacks will try to make it 10 in a row over the Aggies at home when the teams play at 3 p.m. today in Walton Arena.
Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy, whose Aggies are 0-4 at Arkansas, repeatedly has called Walton Arena the toughest place to play in the SEC .
"They usually put 19,000 in there," Kennedy said. "Their students are right on the floor. It's one of the loudest places in college basketball.
"Their fans are rabid. It's the only show in town, it seems like, when you go there."
Arkansas is 108-16 in Walton Arena under Anderson -- who is now in his seventh season as the Razorbacks' coach and 16th as a college head coach -- including 13-1 this season.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm," Kennedy said. "It's a packed house and it seems like they're right on you the whole game."
Today's game is sold out.
"Our crowd is always fantastic," Anderson said. "I think it's worth 8 to 10 points. So for the fans, we need your points."
Texas A&M was ranked No. 5 nationally when the Razorbacks beat the Aggies 74-71 in Walton Arena in 2016. Last season the Razorbacks defeated the Aggies 86-77 at home.
"I just want to get a win up there," Texas A&M junior center Tyler Davis said. "I'm tired of losing up there."
Inside game
Daniel Gafford, Arkansas' 6-11 freshman, struggled against Texas A&M's experienced big men when the Aggies beat the Razorbacks 80-66 at Reed Arena on Jan. 30.
After picking up two fouls in a 30-second span with 15:31 to play in the first half, Gafford lost a lot of his aggressiveness. He finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in 20 minutes. His only dunk came with six seconds remaining in the game.
While Gafford essentially was a non-factor, the Aggies got strong performances from 6-10 junior Tyler Davis (15 points, 13 rebounds) and 6-10 sophomore Robert Williams (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots).
"We got him in foul trouble," Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said of how the Aggies slowed down Gafford. "We took the ball right at him. Tyler did a really good job of attacking him on the offensive end. He was out of sync."
Gafford has been coming on strong of late. During the Razorbacks' three-game winning streak he had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 19 minutes against South Carolina; 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 24 minutes against Vanderbilt; and 19 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes at Ole Miss.
"He's a talented freshman -- one of the most talented freshmen in the league and in the country," Kennedy said. "We have to do a good job on him."
Gafford picked up two fouls in the first two minutes at Ole Miss, but wasn't called for another foul the rest of the game.
"I think Daniel will continue to play with a lot of confidence," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "I mean, we'll see when he gets out on the floor.
"He's going against some of the bigger and better players in our league, and so it's going to be interesting to see how he matches up and how he plays. Especially having already played these guys once.
"So let's see if that experience has kicked in so he can use it to his advantage here."
Razorbacks senior guard Jaylen Barford said he expects a strong game from Gafford against Texas A&M's big men.
"He knows what he's got to do now ... because they were banging at Texas A&M," Barford said. "I think he's ready for the matchup."
Hail Hall
Darious Hall, a 6-6 freshman from Little Rock, had his first double-double for the Razorbacks with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench at Ole Miss.
"He showed you what he can do," Arkansas senior guard Anton Beard said. "He brings a lot of energy to our team and he pumps us up every time he's out there. That's just what he does."
Hall had a strong game at Texas A&M with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals in a career-high 35 minutes.
Vs. ranked teams
Texas A&M, which returned to The Associated Press poll at No. 21 this week, will be the fourth opponent Arkansas has played this season which is nationally ranked at the time of the game.
Earlier this season No. 9 North Carolina beat Arkansas 87-68 in Portland, Ore., and the Razorbacks beat No. 14 Minnesota 95-79 and No. 19 Tennessee 95-93 in overtime in Walton Arena.
Arkansas is 36-23 all-time against ranked teams in Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks are 2-3 this season against teams ranked in this week's AP poll with with victories over No. 23 Oklahoma in Portland and No. 18 Tennessee at home and losses to No. 14 North Carolina and at No. 10 Auburn and at Texas A&M.
Lot of history
Today will be the 157th time Arkansas and Texas A&M have played going back to the 1923-24 season when the Aggies beat the Razorbacks 35-27 and 32-17 in back-to-back games in College Station, Texas.
That was the first season Arkansas had a basketball team.
The Razorbacks lead the series 101-55, including 56-14 in Fayetteville.
Sports on 02/17/2018