FAYETTEVILLE — Texas A&M is the University of Arkansas’ most common basketball opponent with the schools being longtime Southwest Conference rivals and the Aggies eventually following the Razorbacks to the SEC.
But getting together for a 161st time has been a challenge.
Arkansas and Texas A&M originally were scheduled to play four weeks ago in Walton Arena, but the game was postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantining within the Aggies’ program. The teams’ game scheduled two weeks ago in College Station, Texas, also was postponed because of Texas A&M’s COVID-19 issues.
The No. 12 Razorbacks (20-5, 12-4 SEC) and Aggies (8-8, 2-7) finally will make up one of their postponed games when they play at 4 p.m. today in Walton Arena.
It will be Arkansas’ regular-season finale and the last time the Razorbacks play before opening the SEC Tournament on Friday in Nashville, Tenn., in a quarterfinal game as the No. 2 seed.
“I’m just glad that our guys get to compete again,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. “The last thing that the team wants to do is go into practice with me for a week this time of year.
“So I think we’ll get right into our normal prep and continue to have accountability and player ownership. I think that’s important. Kind of re-establish our focus as well.”
While the Razorbacks — who lead the series 103-57 — are taking a 10-game SEC winning streak into today’s game, the Aggies (8-8, 2-7) are playing for only the second time since Jan. 30 when Texas A&M beat Kansas State 68-61.
The Aggies went 32 days — including all of February — without playing because of COVID-related issues.
Texas A&M finally got to play again Wednesday night when Mississippi State beat the Aggies 63-57 in College Station.
“I couldn’t see any fatigue from them,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. “They were playing their hearts out.”
Senior guard Quenton Jackson was among the Aggies who played his final home game.
“I would say that us coming out here the way we did, we fought as hard as we could not playing a game in a month,” Jackson said. “Anticipation was high. I think everybody was really ready to come out here and play. I think we showed it out there on the floor.”
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams praised his players’ effort.
“Just incredibly thankful for the resilience they showed,” Williams said.
The Aggies shot 31.9% (22 of 69) from the field, including 4 of 25 on 3-pointers, but had just 5 turnovers — their fewest since having 3 against Alabama in 2019.
“The game could’ve gone either way,” Musselman said. “That’s the staple of Coach Buzz Williams’ teams, playing hard and competing.”
Williams was SEC coach of the year last season when he led the Aggies to a 16-14 record, including 10-8 in conference play. Before taking the Texas A&M job last year, he led Marquette and Virginia Tech to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in an 11-year span.
“Coach Williams is a great coach,” Musselman said. “I loved watching his teams play whether it was this year or in the past. He gets his guys to play really, really hard. They understand their roles.”
Last season Arkansas beat Texas A&M 69-59 in Walton Arena, and the Aggies beat the Razorbacks 77-69 in Reed Arena.
“We expect it to be like last year’s games,” Musselman said of today’s matchup. “They were hard-fought games, and they’ve got some good pieces.”
The Aggies’ best piece is 6-7 sophomore forward Emanuel Miller, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds on Wednesday night. He hit 9 of 17 shots and 6 of 6 free throws.
“Miller was fantastic,” Howland said. “We had no answer for him most of the game. He is a monster.”
Miller is averaging 15.4 points and 8.1 rebounds.
“Miller is a really, really good basketball player,” Musselman said. “He draws fouls for them. Excellent rebounder. Can really, really score the basketball. They’ve isolated him a lot in the post, mid-post and the elbow area. A really tough cover for sure.”
The Razorbacks won 101-73 at South Carolina on Tuesday night when they shot 55.2% from the field, including hitting 15 of 33 3-pointers, and held South Carolina to 37.5% shooting.
“To be honest, I feel like we can do anything we want as long as we keep on playing the way we’re playing, keep moving the ball and keep having chemistry,” Arkansas junior guard Desi Sills said. “Keep doing what we’re supposed to do on and off the court.”
Williams said the Aggies wouldn’t practice Thursday. The team planned to have a light workout on Friday in Walton Arena after arriving in Fayetteville and a hold a shoot-around today.
“Are we in great shape? Absolutely not,” Williams said of his players after Wednesday night’s game. “Do I think they literally emptied their gas tank? For sure.
“Are we going to be able to practice tomorrow? No. They’re fried, they’re cooked, as they should be. They gave everything they had in the game.
“We’ll need every second between now and when we play on Saturday afternoon to be able to recover from this, because we’re not in the rhythm of, ‘Let’s play two games a week and practice 3 1/2 times a week. Nobody’s in that rhythm if you’ve been through what we’ve been through.”
If the Razorbacks win today, they’ll match Arkansas’ 1994 national championship team, which won its final 11 SEC regular-season games.
“Just worry about the next game,” Musselman said. “Right now we’ve got to worry about our preparation.
“It’s the third time we’ve prepped for [the Aggies], so hopefully the guys will remember the other two preps and that will help us from a mental standpoint potentially.”