Texas A&M balance tops Arkansas 86-81 despite Notae's 31

Jan 9, 2022, 05:14 am

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- — Quenton Jackson led a balanced attack with 16 points, Marcus Williams made the clinching free throws with 4.4 seconds left and Texas A&M edged Arkansas 86-81 on Saturday.

The Williams free throws came after teammate Hassan Diarra, a 55.6% free throw shooter, made a pair for an 84-80 lead with 14 seconds left and Davonte Davis intentionally missed a free throw with 5.7 seconds remaining for Arkansas.

Davis made his first free throw and as he intentionally missed the second, he was called for a lane violation. The Aggies had to use a timeout to get the ball in and Williams got behind the defense and then sealed the game after gathering in the long pass.

Texas A&M had a 16-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half and led 65-48 on a Jackson jumper with 11 minutes to play. Arkansas trailed by 11 with less than four minutes to go but JD Notae hit a jumper with 1:08 left to cap a 10-0 run.

Jackson answered with a 3-pointer at 34 seconds but Notae followed with a pair from the line. The Razorbacks trapped Diarra far from the basket but fouled him.

Henry Coleman III scored 14 points for the Aggies (13-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), who won their sixth straight, the last being a two-point conference win at Georgia. Andre Gordon added 13 points, Tyrece Radford 12 and Wade Taylor IV 11. Williams, who hit the game-winning 3 against Georgia with 1.2 seconds to play to give A&M its best start since 2015-16, finished with nine points.

Notae scored 31 points for the Razorbacks (10-5, 0-3), who have lost five of six. It was an Arkansas best and the fourth 30-plus game of his career that started with Jacksonville. Davis scored 13 off the bench, going 9 of 10 from the line.

Texas A&M went 8 of 19 from 3-point range but shot 56% (31 of 55) overall. The Aggies were only 16 of 30 from the foul line and were outrebounded 46-32.

Jaylin Williams led Arkansas with 11 rebounds to go with 10 points. The Razorbacks shot 41% (27 of 66) but got back in the game by going 17 of 21 from the foul line in the second half.

Ole Miss visits Texas A&M and Missouri is at Arkansas on Wednesday.

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