Vanderbilt @ Arkansas preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 6, 2019 ) Arkansas 84, Vanderbilt 48

Arkansas looks for a second straight win when it hosts Vanderbilt in a Southeastern Conference contest on Wednesday. The Razorbacks are coming off a road win over Ole Miss on Saturday, while the Commodores are looking for their first conference victory, having dropped three straight games, including a home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday.

Vanderbilt is missing a big piece of its offensive puzzle with the loss of Aaron Nesmith and his SEC-leading 23-ppg average indefinitely (reports say six weeks) with a right foot injury. In his place, junior guard Saben Lee will be looked to as the go-to guy, as he's averaging 15.7 points and 5.1 assists per game, both of which rank in the top 10 in the conference. Arkansas has no shortage of point scorers, especially in the backcourt, with guards Mason Jones (19.4 points), Isaiah Joe (18.2) and Jimmy Whitt Jr. (13.8) leading the way. Jones is also leading the team in assists and steals with 3.3 and 2 per game, respectively, while Joe has hit 59 of his 85 field goals from beyond the arc this season.

TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network

ABOUT VANDERBILT (8-7, 0-2 SEC): As if Jerry Stackhouse didn't have enough to deal with in his first season as a collegiate head coach, losing Nesmith is forcing the Commodores to re-invent themselves midseason. Stackhouse started three true freshmen, a redshirt sophomore and a junior in the first game without Nesmith, and the result was a season-low 50 points in a loss to Texas A&M. Stackhouse will now look to that junior, Lee, as well as freshman Scotty Pippen Jr. (10.7 points, 4.4 assists) to step into lead roles as Vanderbilt tries to stay competitive.

ABOUT ARKANSAS (13-2, 2-1): One of the advantages of having three scorers is that it could be any one of them getting hot down the stretch of a game, just as Joe did against Ole Miss to lead the Razorbacks to a win. Joe tied his career high with 34 points, hitting 7-of-13 from beyond the 3-point arc, but he also made other big plays, including a steal in the final minute as Arkansas was nursing a two-point lead. In all, Joe had two steals, two blocks, four rebounds and two assists to go with his scoring, pushing the Razorbacks to the come-from-behind win on the road.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Vanderbilt ranks first in the SEC in 3-point field-goal percentage (.375) and second in 3-pointers made per game with 9.5..

2. Arkansas has held each of its first three opponents in SEC play to single digits in assists, allowing an average of 7.3.

3. The Razorbacks rank 336th in the country in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing only 7.2 per contest.

PREDICTION: Arkansas 79, Vanderbilt 64