Khalif Battle scored 24 points. including seven in overtime, as Arkansas rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit to stop Vanderbilt 90-85 in overtime in the Southeastern Conference tournament opener Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.
Battle converted a 3-point play with 1:39 left in overtime for an 88-81 lead. After the 13th-seeded Commodores crawled within 88-85 on two foul shots by Ezra Manjon with 46.9 seconds remaining, Battle clinched the outcome when he drove down the right wing for a layup with 18 seconds on the clock.
Tramon Mark and Makhi Mitchell added 18 each for the 12th-seeded Razorbacks (16-16), who advanced to a Thursday matchup with fifth-seeded South Carolina. Trevon Brazile contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Davonte Davis chipped in 12 points before fouling out.
Manjon poured in a game-high 29 points and dished out six assists for Vanderbilt (9-23). Ven-Allen Lubin scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. JQ Roberts added 10 points.
Vanderbilt forced overtime when Manjon sank a fadeaway jumper in the lane as time expired after Malik Presley stole a poor inbounds pass from Battle — Arkansas’ second turnover of the second half.
Offensively challenged for most of the season, Vanderbilt controlled the first half as Lubin and Manjon each scored in double figures. Meanwhile, its defense confounded and frustrated Arkansas at practically every turn.
Lubin set the tone for the half by rebounding a Manjon miss and dunking on the Commodores’ opening possession. He had six points in the first seven-plus minutes as Vanderbilt managed to take a 14-12 lead.
The Razorbacks owned a 21-20 edge on Mitchell’s layup at the 8:39 mark when the Commodores hit them with a 21-6 run to end the half. Manjon started it with a pullup jumper and ended with a stepback jumper as time expired, enabling them to take a 41-27 advantage to intermission.
Vanderbilt canned 54.8 percent from the field and held Arkansas to 37 percent shooting in the first half.
–Field Level Media