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

Texas A&M forward Javonte Brown (31) reacts after dunking the ball against Arkansas during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft) (Sam Craft, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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.

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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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