By Kenneth Cross
NASHVILLE – Although Arkansas seemed dominant at the first three-five minutes of each half, the Razorbacks had to wait out Auburn’s last possession to gain a berth in tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
Wendell Green, Jr., missed a game-tying three-point shot from the right wing and Arkansas survived with a 76-73 win over Auburn on Thursday evening.
Allen Flanagan gave Auburn it’s first lead since, 2-0. when he scored and gave the Tigers a 73-72 lead with 41 seconds remaining. However, Nick Smith came back and scored on a 12-footer of the right baseline to allow the Razorbacks to regain the lead on the next possession.
Arkansas gained a 17-10 advantage on the Tigers in the first 7:30 of the game and then the Razorbacks made 5-of-6 to start the second half as they started both halves playing at a high level.
Auburn’s KD Johnson led all scorers with 20 points while Flanagan netted 19. Johnson helped bring the Tigers as he hit pair of layups and hit a three to cut the Arkansas lead to 59-51 with 10:28 left.
“The biggest thing in basketball is when your play dies, who can go manufacture their own shot?” said Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman. “Obviously for us in the past, it’s been Mason Jones, Isaiah Joe, JD Notae, guys like that. We have missed Nick in that exact type of situation.”
Vandy 77, LSU 68
Tyrin Lawrence scored 22 points and Jordan Wright posted 15 and he also had 15 boards as the Vanderbilt Commodores stopped LSU, 77-68, in the final game of the day on Thursday.
Vanderbilt guard Paul Lewis hit a pair of threes in an early 17-7 Commodores run that gave them a 28-14 lead over LSU with 7:46 remaining in the first half.
The Commodores held off LSU in the first half as the Tigers cut their deficit to six points on four occasions.
LSU big-man KJ Williams led all scorers with 26 points as he scored seven of those in the first 2:03 of the second half as Vandy only led 37-36.
Ezra Manson and Myles Stute hit a pair of key threes in the subsequent 12-0 Commodores run that built the lead to 49-36 with 14:01 remaining and served as the run that ended the Tigers’ season.
“We were physical and we moved the ball and we shared the ball,” said Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse. “We were able to get separation early.”