After Texas A&M men’s basketball’s record-setting crowd just barely failed to push the Aggies over then-No. 12 Kentucky, the Aggies failed to bounce back against Arkansas in an overtime loss.
Following the loss on Saturday, A&M now sits at 15-4 this season and 4-2 in SEC play. The game was highlighted by stellar play from freshman guard Wade Taylor IV but lackluster production from the rest of the Aggies.
Here are three takeaways from A&M’s 76-73 loss to Arkansas:
Wade Taylor IV’s heroics
Arkansas held a 16-point lead over A&M in the first half, but the Aggies battled back to an eventual one-point game;. Without Taylor the game would not have come within reach for the Aggies.
The Lancaster native scored a game-high 13 points in the first 20 minutes of play on 5-5 shooting and 3-3 shooting from deep — his 3-pointers were the only makes beyond the arc for the Aggies in the half. Taylor also made his presence felt on the defensive end with two blocks and a steal in the period.
Taylor continued through the second half and overtime to a career-high 25 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and 5-8 shooting from deep. This game continues a trend of Taylor’s more impressive performances coming on the road — before the night he averaged 8% better shooting from the field, 26% better shooting from deep and one more steal in away games. Taylor additionally had the team-high plus/minus at plus-12, with the second-best being senior guard Quenton Jackson at plus-9.
Troubled by turnovers
Despite Taylor’s impressive performance, the Aggies struggled with turnovers against Arkansas as they lost the ball 19 times, the second-highest mark this season — the first being 20 in the double-overtime win against Abilene Christian. For comparison, A&M averaged 12.9 turnovers per game before the night and turned the ball over 13 times in the first match against Arkansas.
Sophomore guard Marcus Williams had 8 turnovers in his 30 minutes while Taylor and sophomore guard Hassan Diarra had four turnovers each. A&M’s defense worked to slow the bleeding caused by creating 16 turnovers of its own as junior forward Aaron Cash led the team with 3 steals. With this, A&M was able to win the points off turnover battle, 21-17, but the points left on the floor through the lost possessions proved to be a difference-maker.
A rare overtime
Despite a four-minute field goal drought with seven-straight misses for A&M, some keen free-throw shooting and a near-last second 3-pointer from sophomore guard Hassan Diarra sent the maroon and white to overtime for only the third time in coach Buzz William’s three-year tenure.
With the loss, Williams is now 1-2 in overtime games with A&M, the one win coming against Abilene Christian in November 2021. In the period, Taylor led all scorers with 5 points , but the Razorbacks’ 4-5 shooting compared to the Aggies 3-7 shooting pushed them to the win.
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