Tramon Mark saves Arkansas basketball with game-winner against Texas A&M

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On the cusp of perhaps its most disappointing loss of the season, Arkansas basketball found a savior in Tramon Mark.

The Razorbacks (10-7, 1-3 SEC) knocked off Texas A&M (10-7, 1-3) 78-77 on Tuesday night thanks to a game-winning floater from Mark with just one second remaining. The Houston transfer scored a team-high 35 points, dueling Texas A&M's Wade Taylor IV, who finished with 41 and made a 3-pointer just before Mark's final dagger to give the Aggies their first lead of the night.

The Hogs just survived a late second-half rally from the Aggies. Arkansas held a 20-point advantage with 7:58 in the first half and a 73-63 lead with 3:43 remaining.

After losing their first three conference games by an average of 21.3 points, the Hogs' badly-needed this home win.

Here are three observations from a thrilling victory inside Bud Walton Arena.

Tramon Mark goes hunting free points for Arkansas basketball

Simply put, Mark willed Arkansas to victory. He was relentless driving to the basket and took a season-high 22 free throw attempts. He converted 17, and with the game on the line, Mark put his head down and drove left before scoring over Jace Carter.

When the Hogs' offense got caught stuck in the mud during the second half, Mark was the go-to outlet. He also held up best against Texas A&M's Wade Taylor IV among all of the Arkansas defenders.

As a team, Arkansas shot 31-of-40 from the free-throw line. Every Razorback played with a more aggressive mindset compared to the previous three SEC games, but Mark once again proved to be the alpha of this year's team.

Arkansas defense lands first punch

Things couldn't have started any uglier for Texas A&M. The Aggies missed 10 of their first 11 shots and only had nine points across the game's first 10 minutes. The Arkansas defense was relentless, playing with great effort and helping in all of the right situations and building a 20-point lead in the first half.

Texas A&M found life as the game wore on — with 19 offensive rebounds and 23 more shot attempts than Arkansas playing a big part — but the Hogs' primary defense was still solid.

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The Aggies shot 32.4% from the field and 20.7% from three, with the combination of good Arkansas defense and cold Texas A&M shooting proving too much for the Aggies to overcome.

Eric Musselman travels back in time with starting lineup

The starting-five of El Ellis, Davonte Davis, Mark, Trevon Brazile and Chandler Lawson was a fixture early in the season, but that group couldn't find enough consistency and eventually made way for a variety of different starting groups.

But Arkansas' horrid start to life in the SEC may have prompted Musselman to go back to this season's roots, and the move paid off. Arkansas led 10-3 when Musselman called for his first substitution.

The reintroduction of Ellis to the rotation definitely provided a spark. The Louisville transfer logged 31 minutes and finished with 15 points. He hadn't played more than 12 minutes since the Hogs' win over Duke in late November.

However, the casualty in a new-look rotation was Khalif Battle, who did not play a single minute.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Tramon Mark saves Arkansas basketball with game-winner against Texas A&M