NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Arkansas Razorbacks made sure they weren't the first SEC team to lose to Vanderbilt this season.
After falling behind by 10 points early in the game, the Razorbacks came back to hammer the Commodores 84-48 on Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 8,517 at Memorial Gym.
Vanderbilt (9-21, 0-17 SEC) extended its school-record losing streak to 18 games, including an 86-55 defeat at Oklahoma in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
"We had a mindset where we weren't going to be the first [SEC] win for them," said sophomore forward Daniel Gafford, who led the Razorbacks with 20 points. "So we came in and did what we had to do to prevent that."
Arkansas (16-14, 7-10) outscored Vanderbilt 55-23 in the second half and 79-33 over the final 29:12.
"I'll start off by apologizing to every Vanderbilt fan watching this," Commodores Coach Bryce Drew said to open his postgame news conference. "The first 10 minutes, we played how we wanted to play. After that, things did not go how we wanted."
The Razorbacks shot 52.6 percent (30 of 57) from the field, including 11 of 18 on three-pointers. They were even hotter in the second half when they shot 65.5 percent (21 of 32).
"It was just one of those nights where we threw it up and it went it," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "The basket opened up. There there's some times when it's closed, and we've seen that, too."
Anderson was supportive of Drew and what he's going through.
"One thing abut Bryce Drew and his kids, they kept fighting," he said. "It was just the Razorbacks' night."
The Razorbacks didn't take Vanderbilt lightly after they rallied in the final seconds to beat the Commodores 69-66 in Walton Arena on Jan. 5.
"Our mindset coming in here was that it was a big game and I thought our guys rose to the occasion," Anderson said. "It helps when you can make shots, especially on the road.
"But I thought our defense was really good, and then once our defense was going, we started executing offensively."
The 36-point margin of victory matched the second-largest for Arkansas in an SEC game along with a 95-59 victory over Auburn in 2005.
The Razorbacks' most-lopsided SEC victory was by 57 points, 115-58 over Mississippi State in 1993.
Vanderbilt had 23 turnovers to 11 for Arkansas, which resulted in the Razorbacks having a 33-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
"There's no defense when you turn the ball over like we did tonight to be able to get back and try to get stops," Drew said.
Gafford made 8 of 11 shots and hit 4 of 7 free throws.
"Daniel was the centerpiece of what we were going to do in terms of trying to get their guys in foul trouble and have an inside presence," Anderson said. "I thought he did a good job in the first half, and then in the second half I thought because of him getting rest and having other guys come in, he was very, very effective.
"We had a lot of guys give us quality minutes."
Razorbacks sophomore guard Mason Jones had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists off the bench.
Freshman guard Isaiah Joe scored 12 points and hit 4 of 6 three-pointers to set Arkansas' season record with 104.
Arkansas freshman guard Desi Sills added 11 points and freshman forward Reggie Chaney had seven.
The Razorbacks s clinched a first-round by in the SEC Tournament by virtue of their victory and Texas A&M losing to South Carolina at home on Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt has to win at No. 10 LSU on Saturday night to avoid becoming the first SEC team to finish 0-18 in conference. The worst 18-game records are 1-17 for LSU in the 1966-67 season and Alabama in 1968-69.
Georgia Tech --now in the Atlantic Coast Conference -- is the last team to go winless in the SEC with a 0-14 record during the 1953-54 season.
The Commodores haven't won in 2019. Their last victory was 90-59 over North Carolina-Asheville on Dec. 31.
Freshman guard Aaron Nesmith led Vanderbilt with 11 points.
Arkansas had one turnover in the second half -- by Jones.
"That's how we should play," Joe said. "We had 10 turnovers in the first half, and we knew that wasn't our game. We knew we could take care of the ball better than that.
"Of course we want to play fast, but we can do that and be in control. That's what we did in the second half."
Arkansas opened the second half by outscoring Vanderbilt 9-0 -- with five points from Jones and four from Gafford -- to take a 38-25 lead with 17:10 left.
Vanderbilt ended a 0-of-17 shooting stretch from the field with 15:42 left when Gafford was called for goal-tending and Simisola Shittu was credited with the basket, pulling the Commodores with 38-27.
Arkansas pushed its lead to 43-27 when Sills banked in a three-pointer 13:58 left.
Vanderbilt shot 29.6 percent (16 of 54) from the field.
"Our ball handing, our shooting and our passing," Drew said of the Commodores' issues. "Those are three fundamentals we've got to get a lot better at."
Game sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 16-14, 7-10 SEC; Vanderbilt 9-21, 0-17
STARS Arkansas forward Daniel Gafford (20 points, 8-of-11 shooting), guard Mason Jones (16 points) and guard Isaiah Joe (12 points, 4 of 6 three-pointers)
KEY STATS Arkansas had a 30-8 edge in points off turnovers and outscored the Commodores 55-23 in the second half.
UP NEXT The Razorbacks host Alabama at 5 p.m. Saturday at Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Sports on 03/07/2019