COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Arkansas held off a late rally from Texas A&M thanks to clutch free throw shooting down the stretch for a 78-71 win to sweep the season series with the Aggies.
The Razorbacks took a 35-31 lead into halftime but that lead was quickly erased in the opening minute of the second half with an Aggie layup and a pair of free throws. Makhi Mitchell answered for the Hogs with 17:02 left to put Arkansas back in front for good. The lead eventually grew to 10 points after an and-1 from Tramon Mark with 6:40 on remaining. A&M clawed within three points, 61-58, on a 7-0 run capped by a Wade Taylor IV jumper. Tramon Mark responded with six straight points for the Hogs to push the lead back to nine points with the Aggies never getting closer than five points the rest of the night.
Mitchell continued his recent trend of being a force for the Razorbacks on Tuesday night, scoring a career-high 22 points fueled by a career-best 10 free throws. The fifth-year senior also notched his fifth double-double of the season adding 13 rebounds. Mitchell went 10-for-12 from the free throw line on the night, including sinking a pair with under a minute remaining to push the lead to eight. The Hogs’ free throw shooting put the game on ice over the final 72 seconds with the team’s final nine points coming from the charity stripe.
Arkansas’s four-point lead at the break came despite getting only four points from Mark. The Houston transfer changed that in the second half with 22 points to finish with a game-high 26. The junior took over in the final half, going 7-for-12 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range, and adding 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
While Mark and Mitchell, who scored nine of his 22 points in the second half, were turning up the heat on the offensive end, the Razorback defense put the clamps on the Aggie offense holding them to just 26.3% shooting in the second half. Texas A&M’s duo of Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford combined for just 23 points on 8-of-28 (28.6%) shooting on the night.
The Razorbacks were outrebounded by A&M 47-40 with the Aggies pulling down 20 offensive rebounds but Arkansas limited those 20 offensive rebounds to just seven second chance points. The Hogs’ bench also provided a huge boost, outscoring the Aggies’ bench 36-27 led by Mitchell’s 22.
The victory was just the third in College Station for Arkansas since the Aggies joined the SEC.
Arkansas returns home to Bud Walton Arena on Saturday for an 11 a.m. tipoff against Missouri on ESPN2.
