Arkansas’ rally falls short at Texas A&M as Hogs fall to 0-3 in SEC

Arkansas wilted during an 18-0 Aggies second-half run and the Razorbacks began SEC play 0-3.

Arkansas dug itself a hole it could not overcome.

An 18-0 Texas A&M run in the early minutes of the second half sent the Razorbacks to a third straight loss in SEC play and their fifth loss in their last six games with a 86-81 win in College Station on Saturday afternoon.

The Aggies (13-2, 2-0) dominated the game the way Arkansas would have preferred: balance, speed and defense. Five different Aggies players scored in double figures. Texas A&M had 28 points off 18 Arkansas turnovers, as well.

JD Notae did what he could for the Razorbacks (10-5, 0-3), scoring a season-high 33 points on 11 of 23 shooting, including a 5-for-8 game from the 3-point line. He was joined in double figures by four other Arkansas players, but everyone not named Notae, Jaylin Williams (10 points on 5 of 8 shooting) and Stanley Umude (10 points on 4 of 8 shooting) shot a combined 25%.

Arkansas made it interesting in the last three minutes, pulling back within a point after trailing by as many as 17 midway through the second half. But Quenton Jackson made a 3-pointer to put A&M ahead by four points with 33 seconds left and the Hogs ran out of time.

The Razorbacks last started 0-3 in SEC Play in 2008-09. They finished that year 2-14 in-conference.

Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday to play Missouri.