FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ men’s basketball team extended its SEC winning streak to three games on Tuesday in Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks defeated Texas A&M 81-70 to improve to 15-7 overall and 4-5 in conference games. For the Aggies, it was only their second loss in the SEC and since Dec. 20.
Arkansas was led by 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists from Ricky Council, and 19 points (4 of 8 from three-point range) and 4 assists by Davonte Davis. Makhel Mitchell, in his third start, added 9 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocks.
The Razorbacks also got 12 points and 7 rebounds from Jordan Walsh, and 11 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals out of Anthony Black.
As a team, Arkansas finished with 13 blocked shots, one shy of the program record in a regular-season SEC game. Makhi Mitchell also recorded three blocks.
"I thought our defense against Baylor was as good as any defense that we’ve played since I’ve been here," Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said. "I thought tonight we did the same. That was a really, really emotional, difficult loss in Waco. It really was. We fought hard.
"We were emotionally ready to play the (Aggies) – mentally ready, physically ready to play the game."
Arkansas led by as many as 10 points in the first half following a layup from forward Makhi Mitchell and a block by Makhel Mitchell that resulted in a Walsh and-1 on the other end. Walsh’s bucket was assisted by Davis.
Out of a Texas A&M timeout, the Aggies scored five straight points on a Tyrece Radford three-pointer and Henry Coleman layup to cut their deficit to 31-26 with 4:23 left in the half.
The Razorbacks closed the half on a strong note. Davis knocked down his second three of the night then Black tipped in a perimeter miss by Walsh with less than five seconds remaining.
Arkansas led 42-34 at the break.
The Razorbacks opened the second half with a mini 4-0 run with scores from Makhel Mitchell and a hanging layup by Council for their biggest lead of the game. Texas A&M responded with a 6-0 run to pull within 46-40, but Davis extended the Arkansas lead back to 10 with a fast-break layup.
After Radford put together a 5-0 run of his own to cut the Razorbacks’ lead to 52-47, Davis took over for the Razorbacks for a stretch.
The junior guard knocked down a three-pointer of his own, assisted on one by Walsh in front of the Arkansas bench then made a layup in transition. Later, with 7:52 to play, his right corner three provided the Razorbacks their largest lead at 66-53.
The Aggies again bounced back with an 11-2 run to pull within 68-64 with 4:10 remaining, forcing an Arkansas timeout.
Walsh then came up with a tip-in following a mid-range miss by Council to make it a 70-64 game with 3:45 left. Texas A&M missed its next five shots from the floor thanks to strong defense from Makhel Mitchell, and Council added two free throws with 1:36 left to push the Razorbacks’ lead to 72-64.
"I thought Jordan tonight was a real game-changer for us," Musselman said. "His energy was phenomenal. He played most of the second half. He approached the game the right way.
"I thought he mentally did a great job coming in ready to play. He played with great energy."
Aggies guard Wade Taylor snapped a string of seven straight misses with a right-corner three with 1:27 to go. Arkansas then made five free throws to extend the lead to 10 with less than one minute left.
Taylor and Coleman each scored 18 points for Texas A&M, and Radford pitched in 17. Coleman led all players with 15 rebounds, including seven offensive.
The Aggies shot 34.2% from the floor. Taylor and Radford each finished 6-of-19 shooting.
"We put a lot of emphasis on defense," Davis said. "I think win or lose we put our pride on defense. I think the last few weeks, we’ve been playing pretty hard on defense. Hopefully I and the rest of the guys continue to just play hard on the defensive end.
"The offensive end will just flow and come with whatever comes on defense for us."
Arkansas, which is 0-5 on the road this season, returns to SEC play on Saturday at South Carolina. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network.