The Vanderbilt (20-10, 8-9) were riding a wave of momentum entering Tuesday’s contest against the Arkansas (18-12, 7-10) but the wave broke against the shores of Razorback desperation as the Hogs won in Memorial Gymnasium 90-77.
The Razorbacks not only were playing for their post-season lives, as they entered the night in the “Last Four In” position, but were playing without leading scorer and rebounder Adou Theiro facing a team that had just beaten three consecutive ranked wins.
Arkansas guard Johnell Davis stepped up scoring 21 points to lead all scorers but he had significant help as six different Hogs scored in double figures. Junior Trevon Brazile was particularly effective scoring 16 points on six-of-eight shooting with 14 rebounds for a double-double.
The Commodores jumped out to an early 18-10 lead and stretched it to 29-20 with nine minutes left in the first half, but Vanderbilt appeared to run out of steam and Arkansas reeled them in, passed them and took a six-point lead into the halftime break.
The second half remained one-way traffic as the Razorbacks stretched the lead even further to send the Commodore faithful home unhappy.
Vanderbilt’s leading scorer on the season, Jason Edwards had a shocking performance, scoring just two points and missing all 12 of his shots from field to epitomize the offensive struggles. The Commodores only shot 38 percent as a team and were outrebounded 42-31 as they struggled to answer the Arkansas athleticism.
Tyler Nickel led Vanderbilt’s offense scoring 16 points making four-of-seven from beyond the arc, but the Commodores couldn’t keep up without Edwards’ normal impact on the scoresheet.
The Commodores play their season finale at Georgia on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
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