Instant reaction: Texas A&M basketball drops a back-breaker to Arkansas

Texas A&M basketball may finally have played themselves out of the Big Dance

Only a week and a half ago, it seemed like less of a matter of whether the Aggies would find themselves in March Madness, and more a matter of how high their seed would be. Fresh off of a defeat of a top-10 Tennessee squad at home, the Aggies—though they faced a few difficult games ahead of them—nevertheless seemed to be in a strong spot.

Now, the Aggies are on a 3-game losing streak that includes two Quad 3 games. Both of these came in embarrassing fashion, yet still somehow in opposite ways; against Vanderbilt, the defense was lackadaisical. Against Arkansas, the offense seemed unable to do much of anything, despite the Hogs being similarly unable to put the ball in the basket.

The Aggies played lackluster offense for too long in this one, however. Garcia and Solomon were playing hard, but the more skilled players for the Ags that often come through for the Maroon and White were nowhere to be found for most of the night.

Tyrece Radford seemed near the end as though he may be about to put the team on his back, as a pair of back to back layups drew the Aggies within 3 after trailing by was much as 10. An and-one foul shot bounced out of the cup, however, and the Hogs took back over after a four-point play on the opposite end. This Texas A&M basketball team was able to ugly things up with the foul game and raise eyebrows just a bit in the waning moments of the game, but the Hogs pulled away for their second straight victory over the Aggies.

This one should prompt some soul-searching. There’s no AD at the moment, so I don’t expect anything in the way of swift consequences, should the Aggies miss the tournament (right now, a good bet). A&M would likely have to go 5-0 down the stretch—including wins at Tennessee and Ole Miss—in order to be safe headed into the SEC tourney.

The Aggies head to Knoxville this Saturday.