Texas A&M’s march to March Madness continued with a convincing win over a very good Arkansas team, but one of the hottest teams in America has their eyes set on the SEC Tournament crown.
(4) Arkansas vs. (8) Texas A&M – Quenton Jackson leads Aggies
Arkansas came into the game as a 5.5 point favorite, but from the tip it was evident that Buzz Williams’ squad was in control. Leading wire-to-wire, Quenton Jackson led the Aggies in points, rebounds, and assists.
Tyrece Radford didn’t shoot much, but was efficient when he did, making four of his five attempts for 11 points and adding five rebounds and three assists. Continuing his hot play, Hassan Diarra scored 12 points off the bench, including 2 of 2 from beyond the arc.
For Arkansas, Stanley Umude led the way with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, but JD Notae was cold from the field, shooting just 2-for-8 and 0-for-5 on threes. Despite an 18 point performance against LSU, (which turned out to be Will Wade’s last game as LSU’s coach,) Chris Lykes scored just one point Saturday.
(2) Tennessee vs. (3) Kentucky – Rocky Top reigns supreme from deep
Hot shooting from beyond the arc carried the Volunteers Saturday, hitting 6-of-15 threes, compared to Kentucky’s 2-of-20. This offset a 43 to 38 rebounding margin in favor of the Wildcats, as Kentucky’s glass cleaning couldn’t overcome a poor shooting night.
Kentucky’s bench was held to just one point on 8 shots, with Keion Brooks supplying almost a third of the Wildcats’ points. He finished with 19. Oscar Tshiebwe fouled out in the second half, though Kentucky pulled within three after his absence with less than a minute to go.
Star freshman Kennedy Chandler led the Vols with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while Zakai Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James both ended up in double figures.
Texas A&M and Tennessee face off in the SEC Tournament Finals at 1 p.m. on ESPN tomorrow, March 13.