Arkansas holds off Vanderbilt in OT in wild SEC Tournament game
Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt might've been the 12-13 game in the SEC, but it provided championship game levels of excitement. Arkansas capped a 14-point comeback with a 90-85 win against the Commodores to advance to the second round of the SEC Tournament.
The Razorbacks trailed by 14 points at halftime, but led by 18 second-half points by Tramon Mark and 24 points from Khalif Battle, survived against a pesky Vanderbilt squad, despite multiple Vanderbilt runs.
It looked like Arkansas had the game in hand late, leading by four with 18 seconds left, but a quick score and steal from Vanderbilt led to the game-tying bucket from Ezra Manjon. Unlike Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the Hogs fought hard in overtime to grab the victory.
The Razorbacks will have to have a quick turnaround, as they will face South Carolina on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Gamecocks beat Arkansas 77-64 on Jan. 20 inside Bud Walton Arena.
"I just didn't want to lose," Tramon Mark said afterward during an interview with the SEC Network. "That played into it. We just didn't want to lose. We had a players-only meeting at halftime. Everyone had something to say. We came out for the second half with a chip on our shoulder."
Arkansas scored 63 points in the second half/overtime, with the aforementioned Mark scoring all 18 of his points in the second half. Battle, who had been one of the hottest players in the country in terms of scoring, showed out once again, scoring 24 points and going 13-of-14 from the free-throw line.
One of the biggest shots of the game was a three-pointer from Trevon Brazile, who nailed a triple to give Arkansas the lead in overtime. Brazile, who's been inconsistent for much of the season, seems to be playing his best basketball as of late, recording a double-double (13 pts, 12 reb) in Wednesday's win.
Arkansas still has to win four games over the next four days to make the NCAA Tournament, but it's one step closer to doing so.
More must-reads: