FAYETTEVILLE — With just more than 12 minutes remaining Saturday and Arkansas leading Texas A&M 50-48, senior forward Adrio Bailey ran to the perimeter to set a high ball screen for Desi Sills.
Moments later, Bailey placed his right shoulder into the chest of Sills' defender and was whistled for his fourth personal foul. The forward jogged to the other end of the floor and stopped at the free throw line.
He then looked in the direction of Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman and gave him two thumbs up. He wanted to remain in the game. Junior guard Jalen Harris, though, made his way to the scorer's table and replaced Bailey.
At that point, Arkansas had five guards on the floor - Jimmy Whitt, Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, Desi Sills and Harris. Musselman did not make another substitution.
The gamble - playing five players 6-5 or smaller - paid off and the Razorbacks pulled away from the Aggies, earning a 69-59 win in front of a sold out Bud Walton Arena to open Southeastern Conference play.
"When we went with the five guards, it was a little risky," Musselman said following the win. "Naturally as a coach you think about when you have five guards out there, defensively and rebounding is what you’re concerned with. The five guards were our best lineup defensively and they were our best rebounding lineup."
In that 12 minute, 12 second span, Arkansas outscored the Aggies 19-11 and outshot them 22-9. The Razorbacks turned Texas A&M over eight times during the run and came up with four steals.
Musselman was on the money in regards to the group's rebounding efforts. The all-guard lineup grabbed five defensive rebounds and four offensive boards. Jones, who tied Joe for the team lead in scoring with 17 points, grabbed three of the four and finished with a team-high six rebounds.
"Were were obviously concerned about rebounding," Musselman added. "We do a great job when a shot goes up of just kind tipping it and keeping it alive and hoping one of our guys out-reacts somebody. For Mason and Isaiah to lead us in rebounding, I think they combined for 11 boards, it was phenomenal.
"I thought that small group was really good getting defensive stops when we needed it."
What the first-year Arkansas coach did not expect to happen with his five-guard group was for it to struggle a bit on the offensive end. It made 8 of 22 shots in the final 12-plus minutes. But it was evident the Aggies had difficulties matching up with the Razorbacks.
Texas A&M forward Josh Nebo, standing 6-9 and 245 pounds, was often forced to guard Whitt, Jones, or in one instance with the shot clock winding down, Joe.
"On offense, it’s hard to guard five guards because if they play a big there’s a mismatch," said Whitt, who scored 12 points on 6 of 11 shooting and bounced back from a seven-point outing at Indiana last weekend. "We have guys who can shoot, get to the rim, drive.
"We cause a matchup problem when we go five guards."
Musselman, however, noted that the scoring drought the team experienced was not on them. He opted to run middle pick-and-roll and run the shot clock down each possession in the halfcourt. Arkansas did not even try to run any actions until roughly 10 seconds on the shot clock, he said, by design.
Joe, Whitt, Jones and Harris each scored at least once in the final 12:12, and Sills came away with two steals. Joe, though, broke out late after a slow start and knocked down 3 of 4 3-point attempts and buried a jumper from the free throw line.
For the game, the five-guard lineup outscored Texas A&M 30-18. This season, it is plus-19 (43-24), according to HoopLens analytics.
"I think they’re comfortable with that. That’s my opinion," Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. "I think they’re all interchangeable. I think their games are very defined relative to how they’re going to play. Regardless of what set coach calls, I think they can run them from all five positions.
"I think they’re all interchangeable and hard to guard."