The Arkansas Razorbacks (15-16, 6-12 SEC) survived and advanced with a crazy 90-85 overtime win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday evening in the first round of the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Despite trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Razorbacks managed to fight back and hold off every Vanderbilt attempt to end the Hogs' season.
Missed free throws were a crucial part of Vanderbilt's loss, as the Commodores missed eight shots at the charity stripe, while the Razorbacks were 23-of-26 at the free throw line.
Five different Arkansas players scored in double-digits Wednesday, including guard Khalif Battle's team-high 24 points and Trevon Brazile's double-double performance with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Arkansas shot 44.6% from the field compared to Vanderbilt's 52.4% from the field, but the Commodores had 13 turnovers and they were blocked on seven occasions — four of which came from Brazile.
"Ball security was pathetic in the first half, defense was pathetic in the first half," Musselman said. "But a lot of resiliency in the second half and then into overtime."
Makhi Mitchell added 18 points and six boards, plus Devo Davis had 12 points and three assists before fouling out late in the second half. Tramon Mark scored 18 points — all in the second half and overtime. According to Mark, there was a players-only meeting in the locker room at halftime and he turned his game on after that.
"We just called out each other basically and that fired us up," Mark said postgame. "We just came out there with a chip on our shoulder in the second half and that was good for us."
Vandy guard Ezra Manjon was money with a game-high 29 points, including the buzzer beater at the end of the second half that sent the game into overtime.
Both teams got out to a fast start, as the pace was extremely fast through the first four minutes. The Commodores took a 10-8 lead into the first media timeout at the 15:36 mark in the first half.
While Vanderbilt went nearly four minutes without a field goal, the Razorbacks only managed to score six points during that stretch to make it a 12-12 game. Both teams traded a pair of field goals after that to make it 16-16 at the under-12 minute media timeout.
The Commodores found success in the paint, especially with 6-foot-6 guard Evan Taylor, to help them to a 22-21 lead at the 7:46 mark. The next made bucket came over a minute later when Vandy guard Tyrin Lawrence drained a three to make the Hogs' deficit four.
Vanderbilt proceeded to outscore the Razorbacks by 11 over the next three minutes to take a 37-25 lead and force Eric Musselman to call a timeout at the 3:41 mark. The Commodores were shooting 57.7% from the field and they were on a 10-0 run at that point.
Things continued to go wrong for the Hogs down the stretch, as they were outscored 14-2 in the final five minutes of the half. Manjon hit a buzzer beater bucket to give the Commodores a 41-27 lead at halftime.
Arkansas turned the ball over eight times in the first half, and the Commodores shot 54.8% from the field through the first 20 minutes.
The Razorbacks started the second half the right way and they went on a quick 8-0 run to force a Vandy timeout after they cut the Commodores' lead to 51-44 with 15:49 to play thanks to 11 points for Mark in the second half alone to that point.
Arkansas' run extended to 14-2, as the Hogs were able to make it a 53-50 game with less than 13.5 minutes to play. A wide open three from Vandy big man Tasos Kamateros made it a 6-point lead for the Commodores at the under-12 minute media timeout.
Back-to-back threes from Davis and Brazile got the Hogs right back in it, and Mark continued to heat up as he drained a big 3-pointer, drew the foul and complete the 4-point play to give Arkansas a 62-60 lead with 7:57 to play.
The next stretch of play was as back-and-forth as it gets with both teams trading shots until Arkansas managed to take a 72-68 lead via a pair of free throws from Davis just before the final media timeout of the first half with 3:44 to play.
Although Davis fouled out with 1:27 to play and that was the first of a few unfortunate events for the Hogs down the stretch. The Commodores hit a pair of free throws to make it 76-72 after the Davis foul and then they got a free bucket at the rim to make it a 2-point game with 43.9 seconds to play.
Arkansas didn't get a good shot on the ensuing offensive possession, but a huge offensive rebound from El Ellis forced Vanderbilt to foul Battle with 17.8 seconds left and he hit both shots to make it a 78-74 game.
Manjon drove the court for an easy layup right after that, then the Commodores stole the inbounds pass and set up a final possession that resulted in a buzzer beater from Manjon to tie it at 78-78 at the end of regulation and send it to overtime.
A big triple from Brazile with 2:45 left in overtime gave the Hogs an 83-80 lead, and after a Manjon free throw, Mitchell hit a layup on the pick and roll to make it a four-point lead for the Hogs.
On the next offensive possession, Battle drove the basket and hit the basket while drawing a foul. He hit the free throw to put the Hogs up 88-81 with 1:39 to play. Vanderbilt scored the next four point to make it an 88-85 game with 46.9 seconds remaining.
Battle hit a driving layup with 18 seconds to make it a 90-85 game and Vanderbilt just seemingly gave up after missing a 3-pointer on the other end to allow the Hogs to live to fight another day.
Up next, the Razorbacks will face the 5-seed South Carolina Gamecocks in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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