Razorbacks finally come out on top in ‘tale of two halves’ over Vandy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was a tale of two halves and an overtime in Arkansas’ 90-85 win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday night in the SEC Tournament opening-game at Bridgestone Arena.

The Razorbacks endured a slow start in the first half, scoring only 27 points on 10-of-27 shooting from the floor to trail 41-27 at halftime. The Hogs, however, started to chip away at the deficit in the second half. A 14-2 run, fueled by eight points from Tramon Mark closed the gap to three points at 53-50. The Commodores responded with five straight points but back-to-back 3-pointers from Trevon Brazile and Davonte Davis brought Arkansas within two points.

Khalif Battle finally pulled the Hogs even with a pair of free throws with 8:41 remaining. Mark put Arkansas in front when he sank a 3-pointer while being fouled then added the free throw for a 62-60 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. The lead was the first for the Razorbacks since 21-20 midway through the first half. 

The Razorbacks grew the lead to as many as eight points with just over two minutes left in the game, but a six-point run from Vanderbilt kept the Dores in the game with under a minute left. A pair of Battle free throws pushed the lead to four points with 17 seconds left but Vanderbilt’s Ezra Manjon scored the final four points of regulation, sinking a shot at the buzzer to force overtime.

Arkansas quickly took control in overtime jumping out to an 88-81 advantage, led by five points from Battle. His layup with 18 seconds remaining iced the game and sent Arkansas onto the second round. The comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit is the largest in school history, surpassing a nine-point halftime comeback win over LSU in the 2001 SEC Tournament (Hogstats.com).

Battle led Arkansas with 24 points, going 13-for-14 from the free throw line. His 13 free throws are the most ever by a Razorback in a conference tournament game (Hogstats.com). Brazile posted his sixth career double-double, scoring 13 points to go with 12 rebounds. Five Hogs reached double digits with Mark (18), Makhi Mitchell (18) and Davis (12) joining Battle and Brazile. Mitchell was efficient, making 7-of-11 from the field and adding six boards, three assists and three blocks.

Manjon led Vanderbilt with 29 points and Ven-Allen Lubin added 21 and 10 rebounds.

The victory over Vanderbilt improves coach Eric Musselman to 21-8 as a college head coach against conference foes that his team had lost to earlier in the season. The Razorbacks have already avenged losses against LSU and Georgia this season with an opportunity to add South Carolina to the list tomorrow. 

Arkansas will take on the Gamecocks in the second game of the day on SEC Network, approximately 25 minutes following the conclusion of Mississippi State-LSU.