Field Level Media
Feb 11, 2018
Behind 21 points from guard Daryl Macon, Arkansas pulled away in the second half to score a 72-54 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Macon's scoring output marked the seventh straight game and the 12th time this season that the senior has hit the 20-point mark.
Arkansas guard Jaylen Barford (16) and center Daniel Gafford (16) also finished in double figures for the Razorbacks (17-8, 6-6 Southeastern Conference), with Gafford posting a career-high seven blocks.
Saben Lee, Maxwell Evans, Jeff Roberson, Riley LaChance and Larry Austin Jr. each posted eight points for Vanderbilt (9-16, 3-9).
After struggling to find any offense in the first half, Vanderbilt cut the Arkansas lead to 30-24 on Lee's 3-pointer with 18:51 left.
Another outside jumper from Lee with 13:18 left helped the Commodores bring the lead back down to eight, but it was all Arkansas from that point forward.
The Razorbacks went on a 14-5 run, capped off by a 3 from Macon, to take a 51-36 lead with 8:55 remaining.
Arkansas kept the momentum going from there, with C.J. Jones' jump shot with 3:18 left giving the Razorbacks their largest lead of the game at 67-46.
Gafford's emphatic dunk at the 2:07 mark put the exclamation point on the win and gave the freshman his second slam of the game.
Arkansas held a 28-21 lead at the break after Vanderbilt shot just 15.4 percent in the first half and made only four field goals while going 1-of-14 from beyond the arc.
The Razorbacks turned the ball over on their first five offensive possessions of the game, which allowed the Commodores to take an early lead.
Vanderbilt led 13-7 after a pair of made free throws by Maxwell Evans, but the Razorbacks countered with a 15-0 run, and the Commodores were never able to regain the lead.
Arkansas led by as many as 11 in the first half after Jones knocked down a jump shot with 3:06 left in the period.
Arkansas earned its 34th consecutive victory when leading at halftime.?
With the loss, Vanderbilt fell to 0-9 in true road games this season.
--Field Level Media