Arkansas and Texas A&M hope to incorporate better 3-point shooting in their SEC matchup on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas held the nation’s third-longest streak for consecutive games with a 3-pointer made until Tuesday night when the Razorbacks went 0 for 11 from long range in a 75-59 win over South Carolina. The streak ended at 1,092 games; Arkansas had last played a game without making a 3 on Jan. 7, 1989.
Everything else worked Tuesday for the Razorbacks (13-5, 3-3 SEC), though, as they outscored the Gamecocks 42-19 after intermission.
A big key recently has been the team’s defense.
The past three victories have included lockdown performances. Against Missouri, the Razorbacks held the Tigers to 29.2 percent field-goal shooting; LSU, 38.2 percent; South Carolina, 33.9 percent.
Stanley Umude and JD Notae combined for five blocked shots against the Gamecocks, Jaylin Williams scored a career-best 19 points and Arkansas forced 18 South Carolina turnovers.
“I think certainly any good team has to be good defensively,” Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said. “If you want your season to be meaningful, you’ve got to be good defensively.”
Notae leads Arkansas in scoring at 18.7 points per game. Williams tops the team in rebounding at 8.8 per game.
Texas A&M (15-3, 4-1) had its eight-game winning streak snapped Wednesday, falling 64-58 at home to No. 12 Kentucky after leading by as many as 13 points in the first half.
Much of the trouble was the Aggies’ inability to convert open looks from 3-point range.
“We came up short, but not (because of) how hard we competed and how hard we fought,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “(But) it’s hard to win when you shoot 4 percent from the 3-point line (1 for 22) and 39 percent from the free-throw line.”
Henry Coleman III led the Aggies with 17 points.
Texas A&M had led the conference in 3-point shooting (37.4 percent) prior to the Kentucky game.
Quenton Jackson (12.6 points per game) and Marcus Williams (10.1 ppg) join Coleman (11.4 ppg) as the only Aggies averaging double-figure scoring.
–Field Level Media
