By Kenneth Cross
NASHVILLE – Wade Taylor scored 18 points and Henry Coleman, III, added 16 as Texas A&M erased a 38-25 deficit at halftime to Arkansas and dropped the Razorbacks, 67-61, in the SEC Tournament’s quarterfinals on Friday evening. The Aggies shot 48.1 percent from the floor in the second half while holding the Razorbacks to 9-of-30.
Arkansas forced three turnovers after falling behind 61-54, but converting wasn’t an entity as Wade Taylor and Warren Washington buried a pair of late field goals to give Texas A&M a 65-57 lead with eight minutes remaining.
Arkansas led for a total of 28 minutes, but the Razorbacks were 1-of-5 with four turnovers for a six-minute stretch where they dropped their lead late in the second half.
Texas A&M shot 48.1 percent from the floor in the second half and made 16-of-22 field goals in that second 20 minutes stopping what had been a course Razorbacks pace for most of the evening.
The Arkansas Razorbacks play excessively well in the first half as they made 13-of-24 field goals in the first half en route to a 38-25 halftime lead over Texas A&M.
Arkansas closed the last 1:30 of the first half on a 9-2 run as Jimmy Walsh hit a three from the left win to forge a 38-25 halftime lead. The Razorbacks scored 11 points off of eight Aggies turnovers in that first 20 minutes.
Nick Smith led Arkansas with 13 points as he was 1-of-10 with a pair of threes in finishing 6-of-20.
“We were not very good in the first half and that’s a credit to Arkansas,” said Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams. “ (Wade Taylor) IV being in foul trouble is a little unsettling. We played him offense for defense the best we could.”
The Razorbacks had a tough season with injuries to Smith, who is now back, but would have been in a much different place had he played. Then, rebounder Trevon Brazile was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
“This league, it’s really hard and really competitive,” explained Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. “Great talent. A lot of NBA players play in this league. Great coaches in this league.”