Preview: at Arkansas

Saturday, February 23

Fayetteville, Ark.

7:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

Arkansas

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Feb 22, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Watch Live Listen Live Live Stats Game Notes

By: Texas A&M Athletics Communications

Aggie Basketball Game #26:
Texas A&M (11-14, 4-9 SEC) at Arkansas (14-12, 5-8 SEC)
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 • 7:30 p.m. (CT)
Bud Walton Arena (19.200) • Fayetteville, Arkansas

TELEVISION: SEC Network
Dave Neal, Play-by-Play
Daymeon Fishback, Commentary

RADIO: Texas A&M Radio Network/1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
Andrew Monaco, Play-by-Play
John Thornton, Commentary

SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius: 135/XM: 190/Internet: 961
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thman.com/live
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com

COLLEGE STATION -- The Texas A&M men's basketball team hits to road in search of its first win at Arkansas as an SEC member. The Aggies are coming off of a hard-fought, 65-56, win over Alabama at Reed Arena Tuesday night and are looking to avenge their conference-opening loss to the Razorbacks earlier this season. Sophomore Savion Flagg was the catalyst against the Crimson Tide, leading the way for the second straight game with 18 points and nine rebounds. Arkansas is looking to halt a four-game skid after most recently falling at Auburn, 79-56, on Wednesday.

Texas A&M Quick Hits
• Savion Flagg sparked a pair of A&M comebacks, including a 13-2 run between halves to help lead the Aggies past Alabama with 18 points.
• Wendell Mitchell also added 18 points in the win over Alabama to lead the team in scoring for the eighth time this season.
• Mitchell has come into his own in SEC play, leading the Aggies with 15.1 ppg and 23 steals (1.2 spg).
• Jay Jay Chandler gave the Aggies a spark off the bench against Alabama, draining the go-ahead three with under seven to play to give A&M a lead it would never lose.
• The Aggies' win over Alabama marks the first time in the series A&M has topped the Crimson Tide twice in a single season.
• A&M, down 30-24 at the half, outscored Alabama 41-26 in the second half to earn its fourth win of the year after trailing at the break.
• TJ Starks has given the Aggies a spark off the bench, scoring 15-plus points in three of the last four games.
• Josh Nebo's 57 blocks on the year are more than double any other Aggie's total and good for second in the SEC (2.5), 14th in the nation.

Series Info
• Saturday will be the 13th SEC contest between the Aggies & Razorbacks, with Arkansas leading the series, 102-56 ... The two schools shared a spot in the Southwest Conference from 1915 until 1991 when the Razorbacks joined the SEC.
• A&M opened SEC play against the Razorbacks earlier this season ... The game saw 11 ties and 16 lead changes as Arkansas was able to claim a 73-71 win.
• The two schools have faced off 158 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 MBB history.
• A&M's Billy Kennedy is 4-8 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.

SEC Action
• The Aggies are in their seventh season as a member of the SEC. A&M is 3-4 all-time in SEC openers and 70-61 in league play.
• Five of the nine Aggies that saw the court in the team's league opener against Arkansas made their SEC debuts.
• On Jan. 12, 2019, A&M earned its first win in Tuscaloosa as a member of the SEC. Florida and Arkansas remain as the only places the Aggies have yet to earn road wins as a member of the SEC.
• Sophomore TJ Starks returns the most experience in SEC play, after he started the last ten games of conference play last season and was eventually named to the All-Freshman team. He was also named to the SEC Preseason Second Team by the league's coaches.

Double Up
• Graduate student Christian Mekowulu made it back-to-back double-doubles in the Georgia and Missouri games. This is the first time an Aggie has had a double-double consecutive games this season.
• Mekwolulu put up 15 points and brought down 10 rebounds to help the Aggies knock off Missouri before grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds and adding 15 points in the win over Georgia.
• Mekwolulu is one of three Aggies to record a double-double this season (Flagg, 3; Nebo, 3).

Clean Play
• The Aggies committed single-digit turnovers for the third time this season as they finished the Georgia game with just seven mishaps.
• A&M had just three turnovers in the win at Alabama, marking the fewest the Aggies have committed in a single game in the Billy Kennedy era. The previous low was four in 2017-18 and 2016-17.
• The last time A&M had five-or-fewer turnovers in a game was against Missouri in 2018 when the team committed just four.