Coleman III’s second-half surge lifts Aggies past Hogs

Nashville, Tenn.– No. 2 seed Texas A&M (23-8, 15-3 SEC) completed a comeback against No. 10 seed Arkansas, 67-61, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.

Henry Coleman III had just four points in the first half, but he made a comeback in the second half for the Aggies with a quick eight points – totaling 16 along with 11 rebounds. Wade Taylor IV also had a hot second half and finished the game with 18 points. Dexter Dennis and Tyrece Radford finished the game with 11 points apiece.

The Aggies completed their biggest comeback of the season after trailing by 13 at the half.

The Razorbacks came out on top in the first meeting of the season with an 81-70 victory, but the Aggies evened the series at home with a 62-56 win. It’s anyone’s game with Arkansas coming in with a hot streak and Texas A&M grabbing two vital, fresh legs.

As expected, the contest got off to a chippy start as both teams hit the throttle with the aim of breaking the tie and advancing in the tournament. Nick Smith Jr. got Arkansas started with consecutive 3-pointers in the opening minutes. Radford scored back-to-back deuces to make it a 6-6 game with 15:37 left in the first period.

Defense was the name of the game early for Arkansas as they got three steals and three blocks in the early seven minutes. Davonte Davis kept the Hogs hot shooting going with a deep ball at 10:35 to extend the lead to 18-10 and then Makhel Mitchell was fouled into the paint on the next play to make it 20-10.

The Razorbacks’ defense held steady as they had six blocks and four steals with 6:12 left in the first half – holding Texas A&M to just 12 points. Coleman III followed by taking the first basket and Dexter Dennis then hit a 3-pointer, but the Razorbacks pressed on and kept the lead with Anthony Black’s deep ball with 4:46 left in the half – maintaining a 27-17 lead.

Texas A & M leads Division I in free throws per game (19.4) and free throw attempts per game (25.4) entering the game and failed to have an attempt until 2:24 left in the half. Radford was fouled and hit a pair from the line to cut the lead to 29-23.

Black’s blocking party (four total) ignited the Razorbacks in the closing minutes of the first half and Jordan Walsh’s buzzer-beating 3-ball off the glass took fans off their seats. Arkansas totaled nine blocks (a season-high for this year’s game) and five steals in the first half and built a healthy 38-25 lead.

The Aggies dusted off the first half and returned to the second period reenergized by Coleman III, who scored eight quick points and got the team on an 11-4 run before Arkansas called a timeout. Coleman III kept his foot on the gas by scoring his fifteenth point with 12:39 remaining, and Taylor IV’s layup brought the Aggies within two points at 12:05.

Arkansas quickly called a timeout, and it was a ball game.

Texas A&M stayed on the pedal and Dennis’ reverse layup at 10:26 gave his team the lead, 46-45. Black followed up with a layup for Arkansas and started a back-and-forth exchange. Both teams kept going and Davis’ steal and steal with 7:56 left lit up the crowd.

Dennis caught a defender in doubt and drilled a midrange jumper at 6:51 to put the Aggies up 55-51 and create a small gap. Taylor IV had two key steals down the stretch, one of them resulting in an easy coast-to-coast layup that put Texas A&M up 58-53 with 3:48 remaining.

Wade Taylor IV and Coleman III were key in the final three minutes down the stretch – controlling the tempo and keeping the Razorbacks in check. Taylor IV hit a clutch two-pointer and then Solomon Washington hit an alley-oop layup that blew up the arena with :46 left – giving Texas A&M a 65-57 lead.

Arkansas didn’t go down without a fight, but time was not on their side as the Aggies ran out and walked away with the win in a chippy game.

Until Next Time

Texas A&M will face the winner of 3-seed Kentucky or 6-seed Vanderbilt in the tournament semifinals on Saturday at 3pm ET – the game will be televised on ESPN.

Arkansas (20-12, 8-10 SEC) was eliminated from the tournament.