Turnovers Halt Razorbacks' Momentum Against Vanderbilt

Two-game SEC win streak halted with somber second-half performance from Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —  Messy play doomed Arkansas as Khalif Battle followed his 42-point performance against Missouri with 36 points but committed six turnovers. The result of handing the Vanderbilt Commodores an 85-82, who had four different players in double figures for Vanderbilt. 

"Disappointed in our defense for sure," coach Eric Musselman said. "In both halves. I thought the game got away from us in the middle section. We did play hard down 15 or 16, whatever it was, and gave ourselves an opportunity to try to put the game into overtime. But 50 points given up, even though we scored 51, defended and fouled too much."

Typical of this season, with the Hogs down 80-77 and Vanderbilt's Tyrin Lawrence at the line with two shots, he missed both to hand Arkansas a lifeline. Then Ven-Allen Lubin rebound for a put-back layup on the second miss that slightly kissed off the front of the rim plus the foul. 

Unbelievably, the Razorbacks still had a shot to tie the game with 3.5 seconds left, but having to travel the entire length of the floor, Tramon Mark's last-second shot couldn't save the Razorbacks.

Vanderbilt Commodores' Evan Taylor has a hold on Arkansas Razorbacks' Davonte "Devo" Davis in the first half of the Commodores' 85-82 win over the Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., on Tuesday night :: Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images

Six turnovers in the second half compared to two for Vanderbilt was too much for the Hogs to overcome despite a late flurry of hot shooting from beyond the arc with four straight makes from four different players. Although the Hogs had trimmed a double-digit lead down to a one-possession game with 2:14 left, but despite the two teams being relatively deadlocked on the glass, Vanderbilt got the critical rebound to ice the game.

Battle continued his torrid scoring in the early stages. Battle scored nine of the team's first 13 points. The game got rather chippy early with three players picking up technicals, Battle, Davonte "Devo" Davis, and Lubin all felt the ire of the official. 

Arkansas played the cleaner basketball of the two teams for most of the first half, building a 22-16 lead with seven early Vanderbilt turnovers, but the Razorbacks missed nine shots in a row and went nearly eight minutes without a field goal. Lubin and Manjon spearheaded a 15-5 Commodore spurt that gave Vanderbilt its first lead of the day at 31-27 with just over three minutes left in the first half. All told the Hogs scored 11 points in the final 12:46 of the first half and trailed 35-31 at halftime.

"I wish I knew," Battle said on why the team lacks consistency.  "Maybe things would be a little different. We still got to be positive, still got some basketball left."

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Khalif Battle drives against the Vanderbilt Commodores' Isaiah West on Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark :: Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images

Vanderbilt held all the aces coming out of halftime. A quick 6-0 spurt gave the Commodores its first double-digit lead of the day. The Razorbacks field goal percentage continued to plummet, at one point reaching as low as 28%. Much-needed triples from El Ellis from the top of the key and Tramon Mark in the corner tripped the lead back to four, 45-41. 

A three from the wing from Battle off an offensive rebound kept the Razorbacks within touching distance at 52-48, but sloppy play returned for the Hogs, Battle's sixth turnover led to a Vanderbilt runout and Musselman scrambling at the under-8-minute media timeout, suddenly down 11. Arkansas caught fire late from beyond the arc, but it was not enough to come back. 

"We’ve gotta get ready for Kentucky and then LSU and then Bama," Musselman said. "And whoever else we play. If we have more than that, I don’t know, but we’ve gotta get ready for each and every game. Get back to the drawing board and we’ll start working on Kentucky tonight."

Arkansas now faces Kentucky on the road, Saturday, 12:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS and fuboTV.  

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