Arkansas seemingly had the game won in regulation, let it slip away and then took control in overtime to defeat Vanderbilt 90-85 and advance to today's game against South Carolina at 2:30 p.m. in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Khalif Battle gave Arkansas an 88-81 lead with 1:39 remaining on a conventional three-point play. After Vandy scored the next four points to pull within 88-85, Battle hit a field goal with 18 seconds remaining to finish the scoring and ice the win for the Hogs
Battle finished the game with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists. He only had three points at intermission with Vandy holding a 41-27 lead and appearing set to take its second win of the season over the Razorbacks. Eric Musselman liked what he saw from his team in the second half and overtime period.
"Yeah, just a tale of two halves," Musselman said. "I thought first half offensively, defensively, we did not play up to the way we've played over the last couple weeks. Halftime was good for us. I thought the team regrouped.
"I thought second half was the exact opposite of what we saw in the first half. Much better offense, much better defense. Played with more intensity."
Tramon Mark also made an adjustment at halftime. After not scoring in the first 20 minutes, Mark finished with 18 points, four rebounds and two assists to help the Hogs complete the comeback.
"I just went out and said I'm going to leave it all out on the floor," Mark said. "It worked for my favor coming out in that second half. 18 second half points. My teammates was with me. Everybody was rolling the second half. That was good for us."
In regulation, Arkansas held a 76-68 lead on two free throws my Makhi Mitchell with 2:11 remaining in regulation. Also, Battle hit two free throws with 17 seconds left for a 78-74 lead. But Vandy outscored the Hogs 10-2 in the final 2:11 and Ezra Manjon scored four points in the final 13 seconds to force the overtime. He finished the game with 29 points, five rebounds and six assists to lead all scorers.
"Give Vandy credit for that comeback under a minute and a half to go," Musselman said. "I thought our guys closed the game, played fairly good defense in the last five minutes, certainly scored enough points to win the game."
Makhi Mitchell added 18 points, six rebounds and three assists. Trevon Brazile played a very good game as well contributing 13 points and 12 boards. Davonte "Devo" Davis came off the bench to add 12 points. El Ellis had five.
Ven-Allen Lubin had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Vandy. JaQualion Roberts added 10 points.
Arkansas (16-16) shot 45% from the field, 36 from deep and 88 at the free throw line. Arkansas had 26 free throw attempts and made 23 of them. Vandy shot 52% from the field 40 from deep, but only made 13 of 21 at the charity stripe.
Vandy finishes the season 9-23. The Hogs face No. 5 seed South Carolina (25-6, 13-5) again. The Gamecocks defeated the Razorbacks 77-64 on Saturday, Jan. 20, in Bud Walton Arena. It is worth noting Vandy also beat the Hogs in Fayetteville earlier this season.