Saturday, February 17
Fayetteville, Ark.
3 p.m.
Texas A&M
at
Arkansas
Photo by: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Ready for Road Challenge at Arkansas
Feb 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Aggie Basketball Game #27:
No. 21 Texas A&M (17-9; 6-7 SEC) at Arkansas (18-8; 7-6 SEC)
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 • 3 p.m. (CT)
Bud Walton Arena (19,200) • Fayetteville, Ark.
TELEVISION: ESPN (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)Rich Hollenberg, Play-by-Play
Jon Sundvold, Commentary
RADIO: WTAW 1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Mike Caruso, Commentary
SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius Ch. 137 / XM Ch. 190
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thman.com/live
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com
--
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M looks to start a new winning streak Saturday as the No. 21 Aggies visit Fayetteville, Ark., where they will face Arkansas at 3 p.m. inside Bud Walton Arena.
The contest will be televised on ESPN with Rich Hollenberg calling the play-by-play action and Jon Sundvold providing color commentary. Additionally, radio coverage will be available on the Aggie Sports Network, which can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW (1620 AM).
Texas A&M (17-9; 6-7 SEC) enters the weekend looking to sure up its NCAA Tournament resume with a win in a venue that has been historically tough on visitors. The Razorbacks are 13-1 in Bud Walton Arena this season with a +17.0 average margin of victory, including a +119 scoring margin in the first half.
The Aggies are currently ranked No. 18 in the NCAA's RPI report with seven wins over top-50 opponents while navigating a challenging schedule that ESPN slots as the fourth-most difficult nationally.
Arkansas comes into Saturday's contest having carded three straight wins over South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss to run the Razorback's record to 18-8 this season with a 7-6 mark in SEC play. Senior guard Jaylen Barford sets the tone for the Arkansas attack as the Jackson, Tenn., native is tied for the SEC lead in scoring average during league play at 19.4 points per game.
Texas A&M defeated Arkansas 80-66 on Jan. 30 in College Station. During the victory, the Aggies saw five players reach double-digit scoring led by 16 points from TJ Starks, who went 4-fo-5 from 3-point range.
--
SETTING THE SCENE / NOTABLES
- Texas A&M looks to bounce back after seeing its four-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night at Missouri … the Aggies enter the weekend ranked No. 18 in the most recent NCAA RPI Rankings, with seven victories over top-50 opponents, while ESPN regards A&M's strength of schedule as the fourth-toughest nationally.
- Tuesday's showing at Missouri snapped another four-game streak for the Aggies as A&M had topped the 80-point mark in each of its previous four contests ... Texas A&M, which remains one of the country's top defensive squads, has pushed the pace and been aggressive on the offensive end recently ... during its four-game winning streak Texas A&M averaged 82.2 points per game (prior to the streak of 80-point game streak, A&M was averaging 74.7 points per game on the season).
- Rookie TJ Starks was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 20 points, three assists and 1.5 steals during the pair of wins over No. 8 Auburn and No. 24 Kentucky ... Starks shot 48.3 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3-point range last week.
- Starks made his first career start Jan. 27 at Kansas and in six games as a starter is averaging 15.0 points per game while shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and 52.0 percent from long distance.
- Tyler Davis has been Texas A&M's most consistent player this season, standing out as the only Aggie to start all 25 games ... in his last nine games, Davis has produced four double-doubles and is averaging 13.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per outing.
- In his last nine games, Robert Williams is averaging 13.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest, while shooting 72.2 percent from the floor ... the Oil City, La., native has also racked up 23 blocked shots during the span with 11 assists and six steals.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ARKANSAS (ARKANSAS LEADS 101-55)
- Saturday will be the 10th SEC contest between the Aggies & Razorbacks ... The two schools shared a spot in the Southwest Conference from 1915 until 1991 when the Razorbacks joined the SEC.
- The two schools have faced off 156 previous times on the hardwood during the series, which dates back to the 1923-24 season ... Arkansas stands out as the sixth-most common opponent in A&M men's basketball history.
- Texas A&M is winless during its last nine trips to Fayetteville, having last won at Arkansas on March 1, 1986.
- A&M's Billy Kennedy is 4-6 all-time as a head coach against the Razorbacks ... His lone meeting against Arkansas prior to his tenure at A&M came during the 1997-98 season while the head coach at Centenary ... The Gents fell in Fayetteville, 61-48.
- Kennedy's head coaching counterpart, Arkansas' Mike Anderson, is 5-10 all-time against the Aggies.
TEXAS A&M-ARKANSAS CONNECTIONS
Arkansas' Melvin Watkins - The Razorback assistant served as the 18th head coach in Texas A&M men's basketball history from 1998-2004 ... In six seasons on the Aggie bench, Watkins compiled a 60-112 (.349) record.STARKS REIGNING SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Rookie TJ Starks was honored Monday as SEC Freshman of the Week after helping the Aggies notch wins over No. 8 Auburn and No. 24 Kentucky.Starks averaged 20 points, three assists and 1.5 steals during the pair of wins while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3-point range. Starks tied his career-high with 16 points in the opening period before finishing with a personal-best 23 on 8-of-12 shooting (4-of-5 from 3-point range) in the win at Auburn. Returning to the court against the Wildcats, Starks again paced the Aggies in scoring, finishing with 17 points.
The accolade was the fourth weekly recognition for Texas A&M this season after Admon Gilder was named SEC Player of the Week on Nov. 13, Savion Flagg SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 26 and Tyler Davis Co-SEC Player of the Week on Jan. 22.
A&M DEFENSE BY THE NUMBERS
Through games played on Feb. 14, Texas A&M stands out as one of the country's toughest defensive squads, checking in at 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense (39.6). Additionally, A&M is eighth in defensive rebounds per game (29.31) and seventh in blocked shots per game (5.8).Kenpom.com ranks the Aggies at No. 4 nationally in its adjusted defensive efficiency (92.3).
MOST TOP-10 ROAD WINS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
This season marks the first time in program history that Texas A&M has defeated multiple top-10 ranked opponents on the road. The Aggies defeated then 10th-ranked USC at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 26 before downing No. 8 Auburn at Auburn Arena on Feb. 7.AGGIES GRIND THROUGH ONE OF THE NATION'S TOUGHEST SCHEDULES
A&M's non-conference slate has been among the most daunting in the country. The Aggies took on West Virginia (at Ramstein Air Base in Germany as part of the Armed Forces Classic), USC, Arizona (in Phoenix) and, at the end of this month, Kansas, all away from College Station. Additionally, A&M won the Legends Classic (Nov. 20-21) at Brooklyn's Barclays Center where the Aggies defeated Oklahoma State and Penn State to capture the event's title.In addition to the challenging non-conference slate, SEC play looks to be a grind this year as the league has proven to be one the best conferences in recent years and is coming off an attention-grabbing campaign where it posted an 11-5 record in the NCAA Tournament and had three teams advance to the Elite Eight.
- ESPN currently ranks Texas A&M's strength of schedule as the fourth-toughest in the nation.
- 17 total games vs. postseason teams from last season (13 NCAA / 4 NIT) - A&M is currently 8-5
- 11 teams that made the 2017 NCAA Tournament (A&M plays Arkansas, Kentucky twice) - A&M is currently 7-4
- Of A&M's 31 regular season games, only 14 are against teams that did not make the NCAA or NIT last season.
- A&M will play a postseason team away from home (including neutral sites) 10 times - A&M is currently 3-4
UP NEXT AFTER THE ARKANSAS GAME
The Aggies take a break from the road to return home to Reed Arena, where they will host Mississippi State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ... The game will be televised by SEC Network
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballUCF Preview: Bucky McMillan
Wednesday, November 12
UCF Preview: Rashaun Agee
Wednesday, November 12
UCF Preview: Marcus Hill
Wednesday, November 12
Oklahoma State Postgame: Bucky McMillan
Sunday, November 09
