When: Tuesday, March 49:00 pm CST

Where: Memorial Gymnasium

TV/Streaming: SECN/ESPN App

Radio:102.5 FM Locally, SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast

Rankings:

AP - Arkansas unranked; Vanderbilt Unranked

Kenpom- Arkansas 42; Vanderbilt 38

NET: Arkansas 47; Vanderbilt 37

Bracketmatrix: Arkansas 11 (Last 4 In); Vanderbilt 9

Spread: Unavailable at the time of publishing

How Vandy Got Here:

Long-time Vanderbilt rival, John Calipari, will lead the Arkansas Razorbacks to Memorial Gym on Tuesday night for the first time. Many remember Cal from his time in Kentucky and their yearly matchups at this gym. Unfortunately, this Arkansas team has been injured, with leading scorers Adou Thiero out with a torn meniscus, Boogie Flan with a torn thumb, and Jonas Aidoo being held out the rest of the regular season. The Razorbacks will come into the game 17-12 and 6-10 in SEC play. Their resume holds three significant wins (at Kentucky, Missouri, and Michigan). Many Commodore fans will remember three players in this matchup: DJ Wagner, Zvonimir Ivisic (who came from Kentucky with Calipari), and Trevon Brazile (a lifelong Hog).

Arkansas is coming off a 72-53 loss at South Carolina, in which they scored only 14 points in the first half.

Magical is the only way to describe what Vandy fans saw Saturday afternoon in Memorial. A packed house of Vandy fans led the 'Dores to the late 2nd half comeback capped with the Tyler Nickel three-pointer, with 5 seconds remaining, to send the game to overtime. Once overtime started, it was the A.J. Hoggard Show, tallying 7 points and two assists. After hitting a layup and drawing a foul, you could hear Hoggard scream, "I'm back!" Hopefully, this performance will be the morale boost needed to push the Commodores to the next level once tournament play begins. Saturday's win virtually locks Vanderbilt into an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2017, something Commodore fans have been waiting on for seven long years.

What to Expect:

With the injury bug running rampant through this Arkansas squad, they will now rely mainly on the shooting big man Zvonimir Ivisic. If you watched Kentucky play last year, you know who he is. While missing part of last season, all you heard Kentucky fans say was, "Wait 'til Big Z is on the court". While he can no doubt light it up shooting and cause a matchup nightmare for the Commodores with size, this is not close to the best player Vanderbilt has faced off against this year. To win this game, Arkansas must genuinely "out-athlete" Vanderbilt and force them to get desperate offensively.

After locking up a birth in the NCAA Tournament, the Commodores are now playing for the best possible seed. With the remaining regular season and SEC tournament games to follow, Mark Byington and crew have a good chance to do just that and obtain a single-digit seed. Chris Manon is playing far and beyond his best basketball of the season, turning it on and leading this Commodore team when it needs it the most. With this kind of production from Manon and Hoggard getting 21 points with zero fouls on Saturday, watch out for these Commodores who can lead Vanderbilt to a serious run come tournament time. To win this game, Vandy needs to continue to play their game and make other teams come to them. There is no need to force things from the jump. Jaylen Carey and Devin McGlockton will be the keys in this game, for if those two can get Big Z in foul trouble early or push him around to where he is uncomfortable while staying out of foul trouble themselves, the Commodores could run away with this game. But, don't get too far ahead of yourself; it is still the SEC, and any team can win any game. Look for Vanderbilt to take care of the basketball and make shots.

Chef Miller's Prediction:

91-75 Commodores