In the lane

Jones finds his touch in victory

Arkansas guard C.J. Jones shoots over Texas A&M defender Chris Collins during a game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas guard C.J. Jones shoots over Texas A&M defender Chris Collins during a game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas sophomore guard C.J. Jones entered Saturday's game against No. 21 Texas A&M having missed his previous 11 three-point attempts.

After misfiring on his first long-range shot against the Aggies, his three-pointer with 10:50 left in the second half broke his drought from behind the arc dating to Jan. 27 when the Razorbacks defeated Oklahoma State, 66-65.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Jones finished with 13 points Saturday in the Razorbacks' 94-75 victory over the Aggies, his first game with 10 or more points since scoring 11 against Ole Miss on Jan. 20.

The Birmingham, Ala., native had scored just 13 points in the Razorbacks' previous five games, but University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Mike Anderson said he felt Jones was due for a breakout game.

"That's a big plus coming off that bench," Anderson said. "Having a guy like C.J. come in and produce is big."

Jaylen Barford, who led Arkansas with 21 points, was thrilled to see Jones' production as the Razorbacks outscored the Aggies 23-8 in bench points.

"I've been pumping him up and keeping him in high spirits," Barford said. "C.J. is a great shooter. I think everyone knows it by now, but he's athletic as well. He plays defense and grabs rebounds. He does a lot of great things off the bench and that was great for us and great for him."

Owning the boards

Texas A&M leads the SEC in rebounding with an average of 41.9 per game.

The Razorbacks had a 45-33 rebounding edge Saturday -- the Aggies' largest margin against this season. Darious Hall led the Hogs with seven, while Daniel Gafford and Trey Thompson each had six. Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford combined for eight rebounds in the victory.

The Razorbacks' team effort offset a big individual performance from Texas A&M's Robert Williams who finished with 14 -- two shy of his career high -- to go with 20 points. Tyler Davis, who totaled 11 offensive rebounds against Arkansas in the teams' first meeting, had seven Saturday.

"If you look at the stat sheet, one of the bigger categories that I really thought helped us win this game was rebounding the basketball," Coach Mike Anderson said. "Somehow, we found the energy, and we found the players that were really engaged and going and getting those rebounds."

Taking charge

Dustin Thomas, Gabe Osabuohien and Daryl Macon all drew offensive fouls on the Aggies in Saturday's victory.

Thomas and Osabuohien have now each taken a team-high eight charges this season.

"I think that's big, and that's in our DNA," Anderson said. "That is huge for our basketball team because there are different ways to protect the rim. Then, guys don't come in there as often."

Gafford big again

Daniel Gafford is in contention to win SEC Freshman of the Week award honors after this week's efforts.

Gafford added a team-high 19 points at Ole Miss and 18 more against the Aggies as he continues to play at a high level since Arkansas' loss at Texas A&M on Jan. 30. The freshman is averaging 15 points in his last five games and shooting 71 percent from the field in that span.

Ailing Thompson

Mike Anderson said he was unsure whether or not senior forward Trey Thompson (low-grade fever) would be able to play Saturday against Texas A&M.

Anderson gave Thompson a bit of a pep talk prior to the game.

"I had to kind of motivate him, I guess, and talk about a player that had maybe 40-60 points and he had a fever. And that was Michael Jordan," Anderson said smiling. "Not saying that Trey is Michael Jordan, but just trying to get him to understand that sometimes with that going on you become real, real focused and I thought he gave me everything he had."

Thompson scored just two points but grabbed six rebounds in the victory. Adrio Bailey, who had missed the last two games with the flu, played the game's final two minutes.

Make it 10

Texas A&M lost at Arkansas for the 10th consecutive time, including five games when both teams were in the Southwest Conference and five games since the Aggies followed the Razorbacks to the SEC.

The Aggies last won at Arkansas 93-76 on March 1, 1986, in Barnhill Arena.

Taping Thomas

Play was halted twice in the opening 3:06 as Dustin Thomas had his right hand wrapped, then re-wrapped by longtime athletic trainer Dave England.

Thomas was pulled from the game and replaced by freshman Gabe Osabuohien the second time. Thomas returned to the floor with 12:20 left in the first half. He turned in one of his better shooting nights, making 3-of-4 mid-range jumpers and finished with 7 points.

Sports on 02/18/2018

Upcoming Events