TAT: Road Woes Continue for Razorbacks

This article originally appeared in the February 11, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

Arkansas’ road struggles continued Saturday, as the men’s basketball team fell to Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., 67-49.

The Razorbacks remain winless outside the state of Arkansas this season. Their 14-9 overall and 5-5 Southeastern Conference records include 0-8 and 0-5 marks overall and in the SEC on the road, respectively.

Following a 49.1 field goal percent performance against No. 2 Florida last Tuesday, the Razorbacks only shot 30.8 percent against the Commodores.

“You have to give credit to Vanderbilt, but when you go on the road, you have to make shots,” head coach Mike Anderson said.  “When you are on the road, you have to match your opponents’ intensity.”

Junior guard Mardracus Wade started the game with a pair of three-point shots to put Arkansas up 6-2. However, that was their largest lead.

The Commodores controlled the game for the rest of the first half, outscoring the Razorbacks 33-18. They were led by a pair of forwards, freshman Sheldon Jeter and junior Rod Odom, who had 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Arkansas shot 26.9 percent from the field in the first half, compared to Vanderbilt’s 52.4 percent.

The second half began similar to the first, with Arkansas cutting the deficit to five points using a 6-0 run. Again, they couldn’t maintain this pace.

Despite a seven and a half minute stretch in which Vanderbilt was held to no field goals and Arkansas shooting slightly better, at 34.6 percent, the Commodores outscored the Razorbacks 24-11 to end the game.

“We did a good job of cutting the lead to five, but didn’t do what we needed to do to get over the hump,” Anderson said.

Forward junior Marshawn Powell was limited to zero points in the first half due to getting into foul trouble by picking up three fouls. He later picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half before fouling out with 3:19 left in the game. He finished with five points, 10 below his season average.

Wade was the only Razorback that scored double figures, with 13 points. It was his seventh game this season with 10 or more points. Junior guard Kikko Haydar added nine points, on three-for-three shooting from behind the arc.

After holding Vanderbilt’s leading scorer to zero points in the first half, sophomore guard Kedren Johnson finished with nine points.

Three Commodores finished in double digits. Odom had 15 points, Jeter had 13 points and sophomore center Josh Henderson finished with 11 points.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak Arkansas had against Vanderbilt, with Vanderbilt’s last win coming on Feb. 27, 2010.

Arkansas is now 1-15 on the road under Anderson. Their lone win came last season at Auburn, where they travel Wednesday to face the Tigers.