The Thaw: Aggies hope to heat up, catch fire versus Razorbacks

After the freeze comes the thaw.

That’s a seasonal fact. The problem for Texas A&M is the uncertainty of when the basketball season freeze will end.

The Aggies (13-8, 2-6) hope the ice from their frigid perimeter shooting melts on Tuesday night when Arkansas visits Reed Arena.

The Razorbacks (15-6, 4-4) are riding a three-game winning streak and have prevailed in four of their last five, while the Aggies have suffered consecutive road losses to LSU and Kansas.

“It’s good to be home, back in Reed,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “Hopefully, we can get back to get back to playing like we played against Missouri (a 60-49 win). We’re going to have to have a really good game against an Arkansas team that’s coming in here with three wins in a row and with senior guards that’s playing really well.”

Unlike the Aggies, the Razorbacks are surging mainly because of their backcourt.

Guard Daryl Macon was named the SEC’s Co-Player of the Week after averaging 23.5 points in the wins over Georgia and Oklahoma State. Macon averages 16.6 points, while guard Jaylen Barford is averaging 18.8 points. He’s exceeded 20 points in each of Arkansas’ last three SEC games.

Guard Anton Beard also averages 10 points, and 6-foot-11 freshman center Daniel Gafford averages 11.3.

Rey Romo, TexAgs

Guard Admon Gilder will need to find his stroke from three-point range to balance the Aggie offense against the Razorbacks.

However, A&M’s primary concern remains its own outside shooting.

In the last four games A&M posts Tyler Davis and Robert Williams have combined to shoot .574 percent from the field (54 of 94).

The rest of the team combined has also hit 54 field goals, but has shot just .343 percent. That includes 24 percent (19 of 79) from three-point range.

Add to that erratic free throw shooting, too many turnovers and a tendency to allow too many second-chance points, and the result is seven losses in the last nine games.

"Our big guys are playing really well at this time, but we have to put it all together,” Kennedy said. “We haven’t put it all together. When we get good guard play we’ll be back to playing as well as we can play.”

But when will that be? Or will it be?

Kennedy seems optimistic because Admon Gilder and Duane Wilson reportedly are making progress from knee injuries that have slowed them.

"I know we’re going to play better,” Kennedy said. "We can play a lot better. Hopefully, getting those guys (Gilder and Wilson) back more confident will help us.

"I thought both of them had good minutes against Kansas. Duane told me he’s feeling better than he’s felt since the injury. I know Admon moved a lot better against Kansas than he had in the previous games. I think they’re getting closer to 100 percent, hopefully."

The Aggies also outscored Kansas in the second half of a 79-68 loss. Kennedy is hopeful that’s an indication they’re close to snapping out of their slump.

“I thought the second half against Kansas – once we settled in we got a good performance,” he said. “We outscored Kansas in the second half. Granted, they were up big, but we did some good things in the second half. We’re taking that as a positive and building off that.”