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Well, this went about as well as could be expected.
Arkansas loves to run, especially so at Bud Walton Arena, where they are 13-1 on the season. They push the pace, they take the first good shot they get, and they often drop into full court pressure after a made basket.
Sounds like a disaster for a team that just lost their guard depth, right? Right.
Let’s break it down.
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The Running Never Stops
The Hogs used their famously quick pace to jump out to a 13-4 lead. The Aggies responded well and closed the gap to 16-14, but another Arkansas run wasn’t far behind. That second blitz gave us trouble, as we were forced to respond with our second unit. The bench couldn’t really close the gap, and the end result was a double digit advantage that we couldn’t crack.
I will note that our effort was not the problem, as we repeatedly beat Arkansas down the court for easy buckets. But when the shots don’t fall at Arkansas (0-7 3PT in the first half), there’s only so much you can do.
Halftime Score: Arkansas 43, Texas A&M 32
More Of The Same
Again, we came out and put together some strong patches of play. And again, it was quickly followed up by two minutes of nonsense that allowed Arkansas to extend their lead. This Arkansas team is literally built to create and capitalize off of turnovers, and we were all too happy to oblige.
Our shooting did improve in the second half, to be fair. But Arkansas was playing really well, and any time they do that at home you aren’t winning without A+ execution. We didn’t have that, and for the 10th consecutive time we left Bud Walton Arena with an L.
Final Score: Arkansas 94, Texas A&M 75
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This was a rough week, as we were facing Arkansas and Missouri teams that absolutely had to have these games at home. Our 2-0 week against Auburn and Kentucky gave us some room to breathe, but these two losses give us a pretty thin margin of error for the last two weeks.
The good news is that we should be favored in our last four. The bad news is that this program has a history of folding late when the roster isn’t deep. We’ll find out which side is likely to win out when MSU comes to Reed Arena on Tuesday night.
BTHO MSU