FAYETTEVILLE — Savion Flagg scored 22 points to lead Texas A&M to an 87-80 win against Arkansas on Saturday night.
Wendell Mitchell added 20 points for Texas A&M (12-14, 5-9 Southeastern Conference), which has won four of its last five games and avenged a home loss to Arkansas (14-13, 5-9) on Jan. 5.
Daniel Gafford scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed 13 rebounds for Arkansas, which has lost five straight. Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe added 20 points, but his 2-for-8 shooting from behind the arc stalled the Razorbacks' comeback effort. Mason Jones scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
Arkansas pulled within two points with 8:21 remaining in the second half, but Flagg drilled a fastbreak 3-pointer and spurred an 11-2 run that essentially put the game out of reach.
That run included three consecutive layups from TJ Starks, whose acrobatic ability to find the basket through bigger defenders allowed him to finish over and around Arkansas' players. By the time Jones scored a layup at the 2:13 mark, the Aggies' lead was 75-64.
Flagg, who came into the game as the team's third-leading scorer averaging 12.2 points, scored 13 in the second half as the Aggies survived strong second-half performances from Gafford and Jones.
Despite the Razorbacks' best efforts to get the ball to Gafford within the final two minutes, the Hogs weren't able to catch up.
Josh Nebo had 14 points and Starks finished with 11 for the Aggies, who outrebounded Arkansas 35-25.
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&M: The Aggies have won consecutive games and four of their last five going back to a road win at Missouri on Feb. 9. The positive run has been a respite for a team that suffered two, three-game conference losing streaks. While it would take a strong run in the SEC tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth, the Aggies are playing perhaps their best during this late-season push.
Arkansas: At five straight losses, the Razorbacks are in a completely different spot than they were after a win over Vanderbilt on Jan. 5. At that point, they seemed to be in position to make the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks have lost six games at home, an uncharacteristic stat for Arkansas coach Mike Anderson.
HISTORIC HOG HONORED
The athletic department honored former Razorback guard U.S. Reed with a special presentation at halftime. Reed, who played at Arkansas from 1977-81, is best known for hitting a half-court, game-winning shot against Louisville during the 1981 NCAA Tournament. During the event, a cheerleader who had retrieved the game ball donated it to the university.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M: Continue its two-game road trip at No. 13 LSU on Tuesday.
Arkansas: Travels to Lexington to play No. 4 Kentucky on Tuesday.
EARLIER
Texas A&M 87, Arkansas 80 - FINAL
The Razorbacks have hit a new low at home under Mike Anderson, dropping their sixth home game of the season and fifth consecutive game in SEC play.
Arkansas falls to 14-13 overall and 5-9 in the SEC with a road trip to Kentucky looming. Texas A&M improves to 12-14 on the season and 5-9 in conference. The Aggies have won four of their last five.
Savion Flagg led A&M with 22 points and Wendell Mitchell added 20. Daniel Gafford finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Isaiah Joe followed with 20.
More from tonight's game later on WholeHogSports.com.
Texas A&M 77, Arkansas 66 - 1:40 left
Arkansas, plain and simple, cannot get a stop on the defensive end. After Mason Jones' layup cut the Razorbacks' deficit to three, A&M went on an 8-0 run to grab an 11-point edge.
TJ Starks, who has had his rough spots throughout the night with seven turnovers, keyed the run with layups on back-to-back-to-back possessions. He's got 10 points tonight.
Offensively, since hitting six straight shots, Arkansas is 3 for its last 10 from the floor since the 8:13 mark.
Texas A&M 64, Arkansas 62 - 6:46 left
Mason Jones may be beginning to wake up a bit on the offensive end. He twirled off a ballscreen at the top of the key and hit a deep 3 for his second score of the game.
Following a John Walker offensive rebound and score, Daniel Gafford grabbed a badly missed Jalen Harris 3 and laid it in to set the current score. Savion Flagg, on A&M's ensuing possession, threw a pass over the A&M bench. It's his fourth turnover of the night and the Aggies' 17th as a team.
Texas A&M 62, Arkansas 57 - 8:35 left
Savion Flagg buries a 3 and the Aggies' lead grows to five. A&M is 9-of-14 from the floor since the break and 3-of-4 from distance.
Texas A&M 59, Arkansas 57 - 9:31 left
Desi Sills is having perhaps his best game since the last time Arkansas and A&M met. He's got seven points on 3-of-5 from the floor tonight.
Arkansas and A&M are both shooting the ball well in the second half. The Razorbacks have hit their last five shots and the Aggies are 4 of their last 5. Arkansas is 9-of-12 from the floor since the break but hasn't been able to corral A&M on the other end. Razorbacks need stops and soon.
Texas A&M 54, Arkansas 53 - 11:34 left
The Aggies still lead, but Daniel Gafford has reenergized this Arkansas crowd thanks to an and-1 dunk. After setting a high ballscreen for Isaiah Joe, Joe hit Gafford on the roll around the free throw line and Gafford glided in for a dunk and the foul.
Mason Jones also banged home his first bucket of the night, a fall-away long 2 to pull the Razorbacks within one at the under-12 timeout. Joe has a game-high 17 points and Gafford has 12. Wendell Mitchell has 16 for the Aggies.
Texas A&M 48, Arkansas 45 - 15:44 left
Arkansas opened the second half with turnovers on its first two possessions, then an Osabuohien dunk broke the seal. Osabuohien is having perhaps his most efficient game of the season offensively. He has 8 points and 4-of-4 from the floor as well as two assists.
The Aggies have knocked down 4 of their first 5 shots so far and both 3-point attempts. Wendell Mitchell has five points since the break and Brandon Mahan also canned a 3. Mitchell has a team-high 14 points and is a plus-11 in his 12 minutes on the floor.
Texas A&M 38, Arkansas 37 - Halftime
Arkansas responded to A&M's 13-0 run with a 9-0 run of its own to grab a one-point lead in the final seconds of the first half. But Savion Flagg got a layup to go before the buzzer to send the Aggies into halftime with a lead.
Isaiah Joe leads Arkansas with 12 points on 3-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-4 from deep. Both of his 3s in the first half came with the shot clock winding down. His most recent triple snapped A&M's 13-0 run.
Daniel Gafford also has seven points on 2-of-7 from the floor and four rebounds to go with a pair of turnovers and two blocks. Arkansas outscored A&M by seven points with Gafford on the floor in the first half.
The Aggies were led by 11 points from Josh Nebo and nine points apiece from Flagg and Wendell Mitchell. TJ Starks, A&M's leading scorer this season, has just two points on 1-of-6 shooting to pair with five first-half turnovers.
Keeping A&M in this one is second-chance points. The Aggies outscored Arkansas 12-2 in that area in the first half and hold a 21-11 edge on the glass.
Texas A&M 34, Arkansas 28 - 3:07 left first half
Aggies with four quick points out of the under-4 media timeout and Mike Anderson burns a timeout. Texas A&M is on an 11-0 run. Arkansas, meanwhile, hasn't scored in more than two minutes.
Texas A&M 30, Arkansas 28 - 3:54 left first half
Reggie Chaney fouled Aggies guard Wendell Mitchell shooting a 3 and Mitchell buried all three free throws to give the Aggies their first lead since 19-18.
Josh Nebo has a game-high 11 points for A&M and Mitchell has nine points on 2-of-3 from deep. Mason Jones is the only Razorbacks player who has played and not scored. He's 0-of-3 in seven minutes. Sills/Joe/Gafford each have five points so far.
Arkansas 24, Texas A&M 19 - 7:34 left first half
Daniel Gafford opened tonight's game struggling, making just 1 of his first 5 shots from the floor. But he just got a layup to fall to push Arkansas' lead to five - tied for its biggest of the night.
Texas A&M guard TJ Starks is having a tough night. He was whistled for an offensive foul prior to the under-8 media timeout and has five of the Aggies' 10 turnovers. Josh Nebo up to nine points to lead all scorers.
Arkansas 18, Texas A&M 17 - 11:07 left first half
Between the media timeouts, the Razorbacks got nice contributions from Osabuohien, Chaney and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson. Osabuohien picked off an Aggies pass and got a layup to go on the other end, Chaney knocked down a jumper from the right short corner and Embery-Simpson hit his first 3.
Razorbacks are taking good care of the ball tonight - just one turnover - and shooting the ball fairly well (7/14 FG, 3/7 3FG). Aggies forward Josh Nebo, though, is kind of having his way around the rim. He's got a game-high seven points.
Arkansas 8, Texas A&M 8 - 15:42 left first half
Arkansas opened the game on a 5-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Desi Sills at the top of the key and a midrange jumper from Isaiah Joe. The Aggies then stormed back with eight straight points to grab a 3-point lead.
Daniel Gafford, though, finished at the rim, plus the foul, off a nice bounce pass from Gabe Osabuohien. He hit the free throw to knot the score. The Razorbacks then forced an over-and-back violation prior to tonight's first media timeout.
Mason Jones checks into the game following the break.
Pregame
Arkansas' starting lineup: Desi Sills, Isaiah Joe, Jalen Harris, Gabe Osabuohien and Daniel Gafford.
There is a disturbing trend in Arkansas' eight conference losses this season: Teams are shooting the 3 at a 41.1 percent clip. In its five league wins, that figure falls to 30.5 percent. It almost goes without saying that the Razorbacks have to defend the arc much better. Texas A&M is 11th in the SEC in that category at 31.4 percent, so the Aggies may be just what Arkansas needs to get back on track. TJ Starks, Wendell Mitchell and Brandon Mahan are the most likely candidates to shoot the 3, and Mahan is the more efficient shooter in the group at 39 percent.
First career starts for Desi Sills and Gabe Osabuohien tonight. The group has played nine offensive possessions together all season.
Texas A&M's starters: Chris Collins, Wendell Mitchell, Brandon Mahan, Savion Flagg and Christian Mekowulu.
In conference games only, Starks is second in the SEC in percentage of team shots taken when on the floor at 29.9 percent. Arkansas has to keep him in check, especially knowing he dropped an SEC-high 23 points on the Razorbacks in the teams' league opener in January. Starks is averaging nearly 13 points per game in Texas A&M's three wins over the last two weeks. Mitchell is also scoring at a 19 point-per-game clip over the last two as well and won't be afraid to let the 3 fly.
Flagg, I believe, is the biggest threat to the Razorbacks along the front line. Flagg scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the teams' first meeting. And while he can be a major problem in the painted area in terms of scoring at the rim and crashing the glass, he's 8-of-16 from 3-point range over the last two games. He hit six 3s in a loss to South Carolina a week ago. No player in the SEC plays more minutes than Flagg in league games.
Running updates by Scottie Bordelon