Hogs outlast Aggies for fourth straight win

Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford breaks away for a layup during the second half of a game against Texas A&M on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford breaks away for a layup during the second half of a game against Texas A&M on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, in Fayetteville.

— Arkansas' late-season push continued Wednesday as the Razorbacks beat Texas A&M 86-77 in front of 10,113 at Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks (21-7, 10-5 SEC) won their fourth consecutive game.

Arkansas outscored Texas A&M 15-8 in the final four minutes after the Aggies cut the lead to 71-69.

Jaylen Barford gave the Razorbacks a 75-69 lead with a contested shot at the top of the key, then had a steal and breakaway layup to force an Aggies timeout with 3:13 remaining.

"I think that's the beauty of our basketball team, that on any given night it could be certain guys," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "But for (Barford) to do it in crunch time, that says a whole lot about him."

Daryl Macon had a dunk on a slash to the basket on the Razorbacks' ensuing possession and Texas A&M never came closer than six points the rest of the way.

Barford scored 16 points to lead Arkansas. Manny Watkins added 13 points, Macon 12, Dusty Hannahs 11 and Moses Kingsley 10 and 10 rebounds.

"I think we're playing with a lot more confidence, the ball is moving more, playing better defense, rebounding better and just playing as a team," Barford said.

Tyler Davis had 21 points to lead Texas A&M (14-13, 6-9). Robert Williams added 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.

Admon Gilder scored 17 points and Tonny Trocha-Morelos had 10.

Arkansas led by as many as eight points in the first half, but Texas A&M closed the gap to 36-33 at halftime.

Both teams shot better than 45 percent in the second half, but the difference came at the free-throw line where the Razorbacks made 21 of 24 attempts after halftime. The Aggies only attempted 11 total free throws, including three in the second half.

"The second half, it got a little faster to where we did break the press and got some layups, but that was kind of fool's gold," Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. "They got us playing faster than we wanted to."

Texas A&M lost its ninth consecutive game in Fayetteville dating to when it and Arkansas were Southwest Conference opponents. The Aggies last won a game at Arkansas in 1986 and have never won in four games at Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks open a two-game road swing Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Auburn.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report

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