Arkansas maintains home mastery of Texas A&M

Ricky Council IV and Davonte Davis each scored 19 points, Arkansas blocked 13 shots and the Razorbacks continued their winning ways at home against Texas A&M, beating the Aggies 81-70 on Tuesday night in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Razorbacks (15-7, 4-5 Southeastern Conference), who never trailed, improved to 28-2 against Texas A&M in games at Fayetteville since January 1972.

Council had six rebounds and four assists while Davis made 4 of 8 attempts from 3-point range. Arkansas' Jordan Walsh had 12 points and seven rebounds. Anthony Black totaled 11 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.

On their 23rd birthday, twins Makhel Mitchell (nine points, 13 rebounds, seven blocks) and Makhi Mitchell (six points, three blocks) combined for 10 blocked shots.

Arkansas committed 17 turnovers but held a 21-10 edge in fastbreak points.

For Texas A&M (15-7, 7-2), Henry Coleman III had 18 points and 15 rebounds while Wade Taylor IV added 18 points. Tyrece Radford had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

In losing for only the second time in 11 games, the visitors made only 14 of 24 free throws (58.3 percent).

The Aggies had a disjointed journey from College Station, Texas, to Fayetteville. Their plane was diverted to Wichita, Kan., on Monday afternoon, and then they were bused to Tulsa, Okla., where they spent the night. On game day, they were bused to Arkansas and arrived about seven hours before tipoff.

While Texas A&M's shooting woes grew in the first half, Walsh created the home side's largest lead, 31-21, on a drive and a three-point play. However, a Radford 3-pointer and a Coleman driving layup cut the deficit in half.

After Anthony Black's put-back in the final seconds, Arkansas led 42-34 at halftime. The Aggies, who shot just 34.2 percent (13 of 38) prior to the break, trailed by single digits in large part by holding a 12-6 lead in offensive rebounding.

In the second half, turnovers clipped the Razorbacks' 10-point lead to 52-47, but Walsh's trey and Davis' layup lifted the advantage to 60-49 with 10:44 left.

Texas A&M cut it to 68-64 on Dexter Dennis' dunk with 4:10 to go, but Arkansas held on to win for the third time in eight games.