In a game vital to their NCAA Tournament hopes, Texas A&M put forth one of the worst shooting performances in modern memory as they were swept by a bad Arkansas Razorbacks team 78-71 Tuesday night.

The Aggies (15-11, 6-7 SEC) have now dropped three conference games in a row, including two they were certainly favored to win. Instead, they went more than a quarter of the game without a field goal missed 14 free throws to allow Arkansas (13-13, 4-9 SEC) to walk in and silence a loud Reed Arena crowd.

A&M’s shooting woes affected everyone, as leading scorers Wade Taylor (11 points) and Boots Radford (10 points) combined to hit 8 of 28 shots.They missed all 6 of their 3-point attempts.

The Aggies’ most effective scorer on the night, forward Jace Carter (14 points) hit 3 of 6 3-point attempts — but fouled out with 4:40 to go in the game. The other 3s were hit by Hayden Hefner (2) and Andersson Garcia.

For the game, A&M hit 20 of 60 shots, including 6 of 20 from 3-point range.

Forward Henry Coleman (12 points) made a layup with 42 seconds to go in the first half, and that was A&M’s last field goal until Carter made a 3 with 9:16 to go in the second. A&M missed 16 straight shots, then hit another one of their next nine to conclude an atrocious 2 of 26 stretch.

The Aggies would somehow hit four shots in a row, but Taylor missed a free throw after making a circus shot that would have cut Arkansas’ lead to 2, and the Razorbacks’ Tramon Mark (26 points), at the other end, hit a 3 and was fouled. After making the free throw, Arkansas was back up 65-58 with 2:19 left.

Mark’s outstanding performance was backed by that of forward Makhi Mitchell, who controlled the Aggies at both ends of the floor. Mitchell had 22 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks while hitting 10 of 12 free throws — a huge deal in a game where the officials had a role in everything.

After calling 21 calls in the first half, the officials followed up with another 23 in the second. Carter, Taylor and Garcia (8 points, 15 rebounds) all fouled out.

Arkansas did not shoot particularly well either, making 39% of their shots, but hit 28 of 34 free throws. Mark, Mitchell and Khalif Battle combined to make 27 free throws — more than A&M made combined (25-39).

The Aggies have five games left in the regular season, with only two at home. After starting off in the top 15 in the nation before the season began, the Aggies are now looking another miss of the NCAA Tournament square in the face.