No. 10 Vanderbilt and host No. 17 Arkansas will attempt to reverse recent trends when they meet in a Top 25 matchup Tuesday in Fayetteville, Ark.
After the best start in school history, the Commodores (16-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) have lost their last two, most recently 98-94 to then-No. 19 Florida, the defending national champion, on Saturday at home in Nashville.
The Razorbacks (13-5, 3-2) have lost two of three, falling at then-No. 20 Georgia 90-76 on Saturday.
“We’ll keep getting better,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “That’s going to be the thing that our focus is, move on, and learn. This type of failure in the middle of January is not permanent.”
The Commodores led 94-92 on Devin McGlockton’s jumper with 1:15 remaining, but after Xaivian Lee’s 3-pointer gave Florida a one-point lead with 45 seconds left, they committed a turnover and had two missed field goals.
“This type of game, it could be something that really helps us,” Byington said.
Arkansas trailed 19-3 after 5 1/2 minutes at Georgia and was down 59-41 six minutes into the second half before rallying to tie the game at 68-68 on Darius Acuff Jr.’s 3-pointer with 6:43 remaining.
Acuff’s two free throws made it 70-70 one possession later before the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run to regain control.
The Razorbacks’ game-tying 27-9 run in the second half was fueled by a lineup that included Acuff and reserves Meleek Thomas, Malique Ewin and Billy Richmond III, who has started the last two after Karter Knox suffered a hip injury.
“I put a group in that played well together and they all competed,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said. “They were all fighting like crazy. Then you just ride them, and that’s what we did.
“Then I changed it when they scored that to get up five because I wanted to try something different. Obviously, that didn’t work.”
Point guard Acuff, asserting himself as a top candidate for national freshman of the year honors, had 20 points, six assists and six rebounds against the Bulldogs. He is averaging 19.8 points and 6.3 assists per game.
Richmond, an aggressive 6-foot-5 wing, had 12 points and a season-high eight rebounds against Georgia while tying a season high with 26 minutes.
The 6-10 Ewin collected 12 points and seven rebounds against Georgia and has 43 points and 23 rebounds off the bench in the Razorbacks’ last three SEC games. He has made one start while Nick Pringle has opened the other 17 at center.
Guards Tyler Tanner (17.4 points) and Duke Miles (17.3) and forward Tyler Nickel (14.7 points, 61 3-pointers) lead the Commodores in scoring.
Reserve guard Frankie Collins, who is averaging 7.8 points, 4.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds, has missed nine games with an apparent knee injury, although reports that he suffered a torn meniscus were refuted by Byington.
“We’re not as deep as I want to right now, but we’ll hopefully get Frankie back at some point here pretty soon,” Byington said after the Florida game. “I think when we’re at our whole, I think we could even do even better versions, even better than this.”
Arkansas has won nine of the last 12 and 13 of the last 17 in the series, including the SEC Tournament, but Vanderbilt has won the last two at Bud Walton Arena. Three of the Razorbacks’ four losses in that stretch were at home.
–Field Level Media
