NASHVILLE, Tenn.—This was about as poor a display of offense as you’ll see in college basketball.
Vanderbilt (9-21, 0-17 Southeastern Conference) went 17:35 without a made field goal, turned it over 23 times, and made just 16 field goals in an 84-48 loss to Arkansas on Senior Night at Memorial Gym.
It’s the worst beating Vandy has taken this year, topping the 35-point home loss to Kentucky on Jan. 29.
It extended Vandy’s school record losing streak to 18. The Commodores finished 8-10 in Memorial Gym, their first losing campaign in a building that opened for the 1952-53 season.
Daniel Gafford led Arkansas with 20 points, and Mason Jones added 16. Guard Aaron Nesmith led VU with 11.
Scattered boos rained down from the crowd when forward Simi Shittu turned it over on a fast break with 11:40 left.
It typified the night. It was Shittu’s sixth to that point, and the team’s 16th—exactly twice the number of field goals VU made to that point.
This also typified the night: The Commodores snapped their field goal drought on a Gafford goal-tend with 15:42 left.
If you count the ones VU actually hit, the field goal misery extended to 19:29.
Arkansas had no such trouble, hitting 52.6 percent of its shots, and 65.6 percent in the second half.
Vandy led 15-5 early in the first half, but the shots stopped falling. Somehow, the Commodores trailed 29-25 at half, but that ended soon.
A Gafford dunk with 17:09 left pushed Arkansas’s margin to 38-25 with 17:09 left.
The lead went over 20 for the first time on Reggie Chaney’s lay-up with 10:47 left.
It was the last game for senior Joe Toye, who endured a miserable 2-for-14 shooting performance.
Vanderbilt played without forward Matt Ryan, who was injured and in street clothes. VU’s problems compounded when Nesmith picked up his third foul with 36 seconds left in the first half.
Notes
VU started Saben Lee, Nesmith, Toye, Shittu and Clevon Brown.
Toye hit a 3 with 18:34 left in the first half, extending VU’s string of games with a made 3-pointer to 1,062.
Arkansas was in the one-and-one with 6:14 left.
Toye left the floor for the final time with 45.7 seconds left.
VU was a 2-point underdog, according to Ken Pomeroy.
Brown picked up his second foul with 17:39 left in the first half.
