No. 18 Texas A&M rally past Arkansas in SEC quarters

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Wade Taylor scored 18 points and No. 18 Texas A&M rallied from a 13-point deficit early in the second half to beat Arkansas 67-61 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Texas A&M (24-8) advanced for the second straight year to the semifinals, where it will face either Vanderbilt or No. 23 Kentucky on Saturday. The Aggies lost to Tennessee in the 2022 championship game.

Henry Coleman III had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Texas A&M. Dennis Dexter and Radford each added 11 points.

Arkansas (20-13) now must wait until Sunday’s NCAA Tournament bracket announcement to learn its postseason fate.

Nick Smith led Arkansas with 16 points and Makhi Mitchell finished with 15.

Jordan Walsh made a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the Razorbacks a 38-25 lead at halftime.

Texas A&M trailed 40-27 early in the second half before surging to take a 46-45 lead on Dexter’s jump shot with 10:26 remaining.

BIG PICTURE

Texas A&M outrebounded Arkansas 43-26 and had a 36-28 scoring edge in the paint. ... Arkansas had nine steals in forcing Texas A&M into 15 turnovers. The Razorbacks used that to give them a 15-5 scoring difference in fast-break points. They also had a big advantage in blocked shots at 11-2.

UP NEXT

Arkansas: Will wait to see where it will play next.

Texas A&M: Semifinals in the SEC tourney.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com