Arkansas Razorbacks 86, Texas A&M Aggies 77: Almost There

Arkansas led this game for the final 32 minutes but it never felt safe for the Razorbacks until the last couple of minutes.

The Hogs only once pushed the lead to 10 points, on a long three from Dusty Hannahs, but that only lasted for about 30 seconds when Tonny Trocha-Morelos hit a three of his own. A&M cut the lead down to two points a couple of times but Jaylen Barford hit a spurt when he scored six straight points highlighted by a fallaway jumper and a breakaway dunk, followed by a dunk from Daryl Macon. That put the Hogs up by eight points and they never looked back.

Arkansas’ usual four players were in double digits again, and Moses Kingsley had another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Manny Watkins also scored a season-high 13 points, just his third double digit output of the season.

Trey Thompson received probably the biggest ovation from the crowd yet again. He had a team high 6 assists and continually made great effort plays throughout the game, especially in the second half. He’s really been playing well lately without scoring a lot of points, and it’s paying dividends for the Razorbacks.

This was the fourth straight win for Arkansas after most people seemed to leave them for dead. The Razorbacks are now in third place in the SEC after South Carolina’s recent losses and are included in every NCAA Tournament bracket projection.

But of the four remaining regular-season games, this was the one Arkansas could least afford to lose. The Aggies have the worst RPI of Arkansas’ remaining opponents, and losing to them in Fayetteville would have been bad.

But it didn’t happen. The Hogs just kept keepin on. And now the Hogs are in great shape with two road games coming up - at Auburn on Saturday and at Florida next week - before the regular season finale against Georgia.

Arkansas remains in a good position.