NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Visiting Arkansas got 26 points and eight rebounds from Moses Moody and 25 points and eight assists from Jalen Tate en route to an 92-71 win over Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Razorbacks edged out a 10-point lead at halftime and then pulled further away in the second half, building an advantage as large as the final margin.
DJ Harvey had 16 points to lead the Commodores (4-7, 0-5 SEC) while Scotty Pippen Jr. had 15 points and four assists. Maxwell Evans added 14.
Vanderbilt next travels to Florida (7-4, 4-3 SEC) at 5:30 p.m. CT Wednesday.
It took Vanderbilt nearly 3 1/2 minutes to score Saturday while Arkansas got out to a 9-0 run. But the Dores responded with an 8-3 spurt to get right back in it.
After the Razorbacks pulled out to an 18-8 lead, Vandy got within 18-15 on an Ejike Obinna dunk and 21-18 on a Trey Thomas triple. Arkansas again adjusted and went up 28-20 on JD Notae’s triple from the right wing.
The lead stayed in the seven-point range until a Vance Jackson 3 allowed the Razorbacks to enjoy a 40-30 lead with two minutes to go in the half. A Jalen Tate 3 put Arkansas head 43-31 a minute later before the halftime score would settle at 45-35.
Arkansas held a 23-13 rebounding margin at the break and shot 51.5 percent from the floor.
A Justin Smith two-handed slam off an alley-cop highlighted the Razorbacks’ start to the second half and helped built an 61-46 lead 6 1/2 minutes in. A Desi Sills layup at the 10:41 mark made the margin 68-41.
Vandy couldn’t find enough made shots or defensive stops to get back in it.
• Dylan Disu, Drew Weikert, Akeem Odusipe, Braelee Albert and Quentin Millora-Brown were not available to play for the Commodores on Saturday.
• Pippen, Harvey, Jordan Wright, Myles Stute and Clevon Brown started Saturday’s game for Vanderbilt.
• Vanderbilt has now made at least four 3s in 26 consecutive games.
• The Commodores are now 12-29 in the all-time series against Arkansas and have lost seven straight.
• Vanderbilt last defeated Arkansas on Feb. 7, 2017.
• Vandy is now 0-5 in SEC for the third season in a row.
• The Commodores are now 4-3 on the weekend this season and 0-4 on weekdays.
