The Arkansas Razorbacks won their fourth straight game by defeating Texas A&M 86-77 in Fayetteville.
It was another step in the right direction for the Razorbacks after they hit a bump in the road in early February.
Jaylen Barford led a balanced scoring attack for Arkansas in scoring 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while SEC Preseason Player of the Year Moses Kingsley was his usual self with a solid double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds).
The Hogs also had double-figure scoring from Manny Watkins (13), Daryl Macon (12), and Dusty Hannahs (10).
Tyler Davis paced the Aggies with 21 points. Freshman phenom Robert Williams had 16 points and 11 boards.
Blake’s Analysis:
After losing three of four, the Hogs have turned things around with wins over LSU, South Carolina, and Ole Miss.
I’ll be the first to admit that I thought Arkansas was close to playing its way out of the NCAA tournament. Given how bad this team looked in losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt, it was a reasonable assumption.
But Mike Anderson deserves a lot of credit for getting this team back on the right track. This looks like a team that understands what’s at stake at this point in the season.
Texas A&M is a team that has an opportunity to play spoiler in the last three games of the season with home games against Alabama and Kentucky. And we all know that, despite the struggles, the Aggies have a roster than can compete with every team in the league.
So, for Arkansas to hold off a solid team (even if the Aggies’ record says otherwise) in a significant game tells you where the Hogs are at right now.
Anderson’s squad needs to go on the road and take care of business at Auburn on Saturday.
If the Razorbacks stumble there, they could take an uncomfortable slide in the committee’s eyes heading into the final week of the regular season.