Late Free Throws Crucial In Comeback Road Win

Box Score | Press Conference

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Arkansas men’s basketball team used a 7-0 run in the final 49 seconds to fight back and defeat the Vanderbilt Commodores 71-70 Tuesday night inside Memorial Gym.

Dusty Hannahs and Daryl Macon combined to go 11-of-12 from the charity stripe in the final four minutes to spark the comeback victory. After being down 15 late in the second half, Arkansas went on a 28-12 run to knock off the Commodores in a game that saw nine lead changes.

Down four with 23 seconds to play, Moses Kingsley picked the pocket of Vanderbilt’s Riley LeChance that led to a transition lay-up by Hannahs with 20 seconds left. Arkansas used full court pressure to force another Vanderbilt turnover, which led to Macon getting fouled on a last-second shot, earning him three free throws with 1.6 seconds to play. Macon made all three free throws to give Arkansas its first lead since the 14:49 mark earlier in the second half.


The Razorbacks are 5-1 in their last six SEC road games and 7-3 in their last 10 games away from Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas extends its current overall win streak and win streak over the Commodores to four games. This marks the first time in the series that either team has won back-to-back road games.

The Razorback got off to a slow start from the field, allowing Vanderbilt build their largest first-half lead at 18-9 with eight minutes, 31 seconds left in the first period. Arkansas responded in large part to Jaylen Barford’s shooting. The Tennessee native scored nine of the Razorbacks’ next 11 points, after going 3-of-3 from deep in the first half to pull Arkansas within two with six minutes to go. Barford led all scorers in the opening period with 13 points, marking the fourth time in the last seven games that he has scored in double figures in the first half. Arkansas finished the half on a 10-5 run to tie the game at 30-30 going into halftime.

After trading baskets early in the second half, Vanderbilt used an Arkansas scoring drought to go on a 15-0 run to go up 58-43 with six minutes left in the game. The Razorbacks finally found the scoring column with two Macon free throws. Arkansas then went on a 7-0 run to bring the game to eight with less than five minutes to play. After only scoring three points in the first 35 minutes and 22 seconds of the game, Hannahs was huge down the stretch, scoring 14 of Arkansas’ last 21 points to finish with a game-high 17.

Kingsley recorded the 21st double-double of his career, fourth of the season, going 4-of-7 from the field to put up 10 points and 11 rebounds. The big man moves into ninth in school history in career rebounds (655), passing Mike Washington (651) and Corliss Williamson (647).

Barford finished with 15 points, Macon with 12 and Anton Beard scored 11.

UP NEXT
Arkansas will wrap up the week in Stillwater, Oklahoma, as the Razorbacks take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys as part of the Big12/SEC Challenge on ESPNU at 3 p.m. from Gallagher-Iba Arena.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.