Fresh and fierce
Razorbacks streak past Commodores with huge second-half run.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt was able to stay with the Arkansas Razorbacks for a half Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Then the Razorbacks went into high gear and the Commodores — playing their third game in three days — couldn’t respond.
The Razorbacks pulled away to beat Vanderbilt 76-62 before an announced crowd of 19,196 at Bridgestone Arena and advanced to play No. 8 Kentucky (28-5) in the SEC Tournament championship game at noon today.
Kentucky, which beat Alabama 79-74 on Saturday to extend its winning streak to 10 games, will be going for its 31st SEC Tournament title and third in a row.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville won its only SEC Tournament title in 2000.
“It would mean a lot for us to win the SEC Tournament,” Razorbacks senior center Moses Kingsley said. “Not just for the team, but
for the university and the whole state of Arkansas.
“The fans have waited a long time for us to win another one, and I feel like they deserve it.”
Arkansas (25-8) outscored Vanderbilt 29-6 to open the second half as the Razorbacks pushed their lead to 64-37 with 12:53 to play.
The Commodores couldn’t pull closer than 13 points the rest of the game.
“I thought the will was there,” Vanderbilt Coach Bryce Drew said. “We were trying to make plays. We were trying to make things happen.
“It just seemed like Arkansas was a little faster to the ball, a little faster to the rim. Shot a little bit better. Did everything a little bit better than us.”
The Commodores (19-15) beat No. 17 Florida 72-62 in overtime Friday night.
“They played with a lot of emotion their last game against Florida,” Arkansas senior guard Manny Watkins said. “They were sticking around and sticking around with us, but we knew if we played our game and kept pushing the ball in the second half that they’d end up breaking.”
Vanderbilt failed to score on 10 of its first 11 possessions in the second half as the Commodores missed six shots and had four turnovers.
“We really focused on defense,” Watkins said. “We honed in and got stops and turnovers. That leads to easy buckets and gets your offense going.”
Junior guard Jaylen Barford led the Razorbacks with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Senior guard Dusty Hannahs scored 16 points, junior guard Daryl Macon had 15 points, and Kingsley had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Watkins had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists without a turnover.
“What a tremendous effort,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “It was a team effort.”
Junior g uard Riley LaChance led Vanderbilt with 12 points, and sophomore guard Joe Toye had 11 points.
The Razorbacks shot 47.8 percent from the field (32 of 67) and outscored the Commodores 46-16 on points in the paint.
“We attacked the paint,” Anderson said. “We talked about going off the dribble and scoring, and we did that.”
Vanderbilt shot 30.4 percent (17 of 56) from the field and was 8 of 31 on three-pointers.
“You could tell they were a half-step slow in terms of making decisions,” Anderson said of the Commodores hitting a wall physically. “The shots were short.
“You could really see that in the second half when we turned the intensity up on defense and went on the run.”
Drew was full of praise for the Razorbacks.
“I thought Arkansas was outstanding,” he said. “The best I’ve seen them all year.
“Mike has done a great job. They’re on a good streak right now. Playing really, really good basketball.”
The Razorbacks have won eight of their past nine games since losing to Vanderbilt 72-59 at Walton Arena on Feb. 7. Their only loss in that stretch was a 7865 defeat to Florida.
“I think we’ve got it going right now,” Hannahs said. “We’re playing well and playing for one another. When we do that, we’re really hard to beat.”
Barford, Hannahs, Macon and Watkins combined to shoot 23 of 44 from the field.
“They’re fast all the way down the line,” LaChance said. “They’ve got a lot of length.
“It’s hard to guard them any night, but definitely a little bit more of a challenge today when they’re fresher than us.”
The Razorbacks said they’re excited for a shot at Kentucky, which won the SEC regular-season championship.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” Barford said. “We’re not too much worried about Kentucky. We’re just worried about what we’re doing.”
Watkins said he’s not worried about Kentucky having the majority of the fans at today’s game, which will create a home-court atmosphere for the Wildcats.
“It wouldn’t be a game if there weren’t fans there,” Watkins said. “I like that they’ve got a lot of fans.
“We’re hot and they’re playing good, too. We don’t like them. They don’t like us. It should be a lot of fun.”