COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy watched game tape of Arkansas Razorbacks guard Daryl Macon scoring 25 points at Georgia last week, including his team's final 16 in an 80-77 double-overtime victory.
So when Macon hit back-to-back three-pointers to help the Razorbacks cut what had been a 21-point lead for the Aggies to a nine-point lead with 6:06 left Tuesday at Reed Arena, Kennedy said he began to feel concerned.
"Macon shot one from half court it seemed like," Kennedy said. "It was a deep three he made at the end of the shot clock.
"I saw what he did to Georgia, and I'm just thinking, 'Man, I hope he can't do that again,' because he's such a good player. But our guys didn't get rattled."
The Aggies regrouped to beat the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 80-66.
"We had a chance to go away, but we didn't," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. "We were down big and we cut it to nine with the ball with six minutes to go. That's plenty of time for us."
Arkansas forward Dustin Thomas missed a jump shot that could have cut Texas A&M's lead to 66-59.
On the other end, Robert Williams dunked to start a 12-2 run that finished off the Razorbacks.
Too many TO's
Arkansas outscored Texas A&M 20-11 in points off turnovers, but it could have been a bigger advantage for the Razorbacks.
Texas A&M led 33-32 at halftime despite having 12 turnovers because Arkansas also had ball-handing issues with nine turnovers.
"We clean that up and we're probably up six or seven points at the break," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said.
Arkansas had turnovers on two of its first three possessions to start the second half as the Aggies went on a 26-6 run to push their lead to 59-38.
The Razorbacks finished with 13 turnovers, which were more than they had in 13 of their previous 21 games.
Arkansas had two turnovers in jumping out to a 17-8 lead with 14:14 left in the first half.
"We got off to a pretty good start, and then we started turning the ball over," Anderson said. "For some reason we were very, very careless with the basketball, and you can't afford to do that on the road, especially against a team such as A&M."
Warrior Hall
Arkansas freshman forward Darious Hall had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals in a career-high 35 minutes at Texas A&M. He was 6 of 6 from the field.
"I thought Darious played real well," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "He played like a warrior, and that's what we've got to have -- more guys with that warrior mentality."
20 more for Macon
Senior guard Daryl Macon led the Razorbacks with 20 points against the Aggies. It was the fourth consecutive game Macon has scored 20 or more points, with all four off the bench.
In the previous three games Macon scored 20 points against Ole Miss, 25 at Georgia and 22 against Oklahoma State. He's averaging 16.8 points on the season in 22 games.
Bailey sits
Sophomore forward Adrio Bailey dressed out for the Razorbacks against the Aggies, but he didn't play for the first time this season.
Mike Anderson said Bailey was healthy, but he didn't play because of a coaching decision.
Bailey started the previous two games, but he played nine of 50 minutes in a double-overtime game at Georgia and three minutes against Oklahoma State.
Cook starts
Arkansas senior forward Arlando Cook made his first start of the season, taking the place of Adrio Bailey. It was Cook's eighth career start. He started seven games last season as a junior-college transfer.
Cook was scoreless in 13 minutes, going 0 of 3 from the field, and had 1 rebound and 1 steal.
Way back
Arkansas and Texas A&M first played during the Razorbacks' inaugural season of 1923-1924. Arkansas' media guide doesn't list the game dates, but the Razorbacks and Aggies played consecutive games in College Station late in the season with the Aggies winning 35-27 and 32-17.
Things got better for Arkansas as the teams continued to play annually through the 1990-1991 season before the Razorbacks moved to the SEC.
Tuesday night marked the teams' 156th meeting, and the Razorbacks lead the series 101-55. Since Texas A&M joined Arkansas in the SEC for the 2012-2013 season, the Razorbacks are 5-4 against the Aggies.
Sports on 02/01/2018