Game #28: No. 20 Arkansas 99, Texas A&M 84
Records: Texas A&M (19-9, 9-6), Arkansas (21-7, 10-4)
Box Score
Bucky McMillan was asked pregame about stopping star Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr.
His answer: “Start by praying.”
As it turns out, the basketball gods have a twisted sense of humor, and for much of the night, those prayers appeared as if they would be answered.
However, despite an unusually slow start from Acuff, A&M trailed for 32:45 of game play as No. 20 Arkansas dealt the Aggies a 99-84 SEC basketball loss on Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
“Darius, he was a good player in those moments, and in the next game, maybe we win that matchup,” the Aggie head man said postgame. “He went off, and they made the last 12 baskets.
“I was proud of the fight.”
Despite finishing with 22 points, the Aggies held the SEC’s leading scorer in check for much of the night…just not the entire night as Acuff started 1-for-12 before finding his form in the final 10 minutes to put A&M away.
Even while the faucet was off, the freshman facilitated seven assists to spur supporting stars Billy Richmond III, Trevon Brazile and Malique Ewin.
Richmond scored 23, while Ewin and Brazile contributed 18 and 14.
“It’s a good team with a lot of good players, and they’re well coached,” McMillan said. “They know what they’re doing, so we knew that it would take a good game from us. You can’t help them out. You can’t help them be good. You can’t help them with turnovers.”
Meanwhile, a frigid shooting start doomed A&M as the Maroon & White connected on just one of their first nine 3-point attempts.
Zach Clemence led the Aggies with a career-best 29, scoring 22 of those in the second half until fouling out with 34 seconds left. Rashaun Agee and Marcus Hill were the only other Aggies in double figures with 17 and 10, respectively.
Clemence, a transfer from Kansas who entered averaging 6.4 points, finished 11-of-14 from the field with a trio of triples.
“He’s a matchup nightmare right now for the other team because he can shoot it, he can drive it, and he can post up,” McMillan said of Clemence. “He certainly looked like he belonged out there. More than belonged in that game.”
Unfortunately, A&M — a team known for its “mother-in-law” defense — turned an undaunted Acuff over only twice and forced just nine total.
Afterall, at his age, what would the youngster know of the annoyances a mother-in-law might present?
Instead, A&M was smothered into 16 turnovers, including 13 in the first half, as Arkansas took a 37-23 lead into the break.
“The stats are not too one-sided,” McMillan said. “They made 33 shots. We made 30. We had 18 assists. They had 18 assists. But the difference was we had 16 turnovers to their nine, and we can’t do that.”
Yet Clemence refused to let the Maroon & White go quietly into the NWA night as big bucket after big bucket kept A&M afloat vs. Acuff.
A&M trailed 65-60 when Clemence committed his fourth foul with 9:37. Prior to that, he nearly and individually willed the Aggies back from a 17-point deficit with 13 second-half points.
With Clemence on the bench, Ewin’s emphatic slam — off a dish by Acuff — pushed the lead back to 10 as it eventually reached a game-high 17 again.
In the end, shooting 59.4 percent over the final 20 minutes wasn’t enough for the Aggies. Neither were their Acuff-aimed prayers.
“They’re a potential Final Four team. That’s for sure,” McMillan said. “At a neutral site or at our place, it may be a different outcome. We’ll have that opportunity, hopefully, in Nashville or in the NCAA Tournament, but what we can’t do is we can’t let this game affect the next game.
“It’s hard to get wins on the road, and I’ve been pleased with what we’ve done on the road in SEC play.”
Wednesday’s loss isn’t damning for A&M’s tournament hopes.
Sure, a win might have removed any doubt about Bucky Ball’s inclusion in the field of 68, but there is still plenty to pray on.
If you’re the praying type, the path is for the Aggies to prey on Texas, Kentucky and LSU to close the regular season.
“We know what time of year this is, and all these games matter a great deal,” McMillan said. “We know that. We got to play good basketball, and particularly have to do our job at home.”
