FAYETTEVILLE — The Cardiac Kids, the Heart Attack Hogs… Call them what you want, but this young Arkansas team has a flair for the dramatic.
After passing up a similar shot earlier in the possession, Keyshawn Embery-Simpson knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer with 14 seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to a 69-66 win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
It was the 10th time this season Arkansas’ game was decided in the final minute of regulation or overtime. The Razorbacks had won only two of the first eight, but have now won two straight thanks to the heroics of Mason Jones at LSU and Embery-Simpson against the Commodores.
“I think you learn from your failures,” head coach Mike Anderson said. “Now we’re just learning how to win, learning how to make plays, staying poised, trusting one another. I think that’s part of the process in terms of learning.”
Embery-Simpson’s shot capped another wild finish to a game that Arkansas led by 10 points midway through the second half.
Despite being winless in the SEC and riding a nine-game losing streak, Vanderbilt fought back to take a two-point lead just five minutes later. Saben Lee started and capped an 11-0 run by the Commodores with three-pointers, with Joe Toye also knocking one down.
“They could have collapsed at that point, but they really fought,” Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew said. “Credit these guys for fighting and battling and coming back to have a chance to win this game.”
The fifth of six lead changes over the final five minutes came when Toye hit his fourth deep ball of the game. It gave him a team-high 18 points, but more importantly put the Commodores up by two with 40 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Arkansas tried to get the ball inside to Gafford for a quick bucket twice, but Vanderbilt immediately triple-teamed him both times. Finally, on the seventh pass of the possession and with the shot clock winding down, the big man kicked it out to a wide open Embery-Simpson for the go-ahead basket.
“I was off balance, trying my best to not get a travel call, then I forgot Keyshawn was over there,” Gafford said. “I saw him at the last second, so I just made the pass and he knocked the shot down for us. He was in the right spot at the right time.”
Gafford joked that it was a “miracle shot” by the freshman from Oklahoma, but Embery-Simpson shot it with confidence. Although he had just two points prior to that shot, he was coming off a game in which he matched a career high of 16 points and made 4 of 6 three-pointers.
“I’m confident in what I do,” Embery-Simpson said. “I’m confident in shooting the ball, so I felt it going in.”
There was still time for Vanderbilt to regain the lead, but Jalen Harris drew a charge - the Razorbacks' seventh of the game - from Lee to get the ball back with 8.2 seconds left and Jones made a pair of free throws to push Arkansas' lead to three.
Matt Ryan got a decent look at a three before the buzzer sounded, but the it was off the mark to seal the Razorbacks' fourth straight SEC victory.
Arkansas actually had to dig out of an early hole after yet another slow start. Vanderbilt jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half before Isaiah Joe caught fire by making four three-pointers in the final three minutes before halftime.
He hit another one - his sixth of the game - early in the second half, but then attempted only one more the rest of the game. Instead, he started feeding Gafford on the post, helping him match a season high with five assists.
“The second half, I wasn’t itching for a shot,” Joe said. “What was working was I was finding Dan and Dan got really hot. You have to feed the hot hand in the second half and that’s what we did.”
Gafford scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, plus made 10 of 12 free throws, pulled down nine rebounds, dished three assists - including the game-winner - and blocked two shots, while Joe scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting beyond the arc.
Arkansas improved to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in conference play with the win and will have a chance to extend its SEC winning streak Saturday at South Carolina. The game tips at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.
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