FAYETTEVILLE — Vanderbilt, which is struggling with injuries and the SEC’s longest losing streak in conference play, managed to pull off a feat no other team could this season against Arkansas.
The Commodores held both Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe, two of the top four scorers in the SEC, scoreless in the opening half.
Joe shot 0 for 5, including 0 for 4 from three-point range, in the opening half. Jones went 0 for 3, all from three-point range.
Both had endured scoreless halves this season, but not in the same one.
Jones had gone scoreless in the first half in the Hogs’ 82-51 win over Texas Southern on Nov. 19. Joe did not score in a couple of halves: the second half and overtime in a 62-61 victory at Georgia Tech on Nov. 25, and the first half of a 79-77 loss at LSU on Jan. 8.
Joe got off the deck with a pair of three-pointers within 37 seconds early in the second half as Arkansas stretched its lead to double digits for the first time at 43-33. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, and added 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Jones scored a career-low one point on 0-of-7 shooting, but added 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
Going for 30
Jimmy Whitt’s career-high 30 points on 14-of-24 shooting gave Arkansas three players with 30-point games this season, as he joined Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe.
It marked the second time in as many seasons the Razorbacks have had three players score 30 or more points. Joe, Jones and Daniel Gafford each reached the mark during the 2018-19 season.
The Razorbacks have five individual 30-point games this year, tied for the most since Arkansas joined the SEC. Jannero Pargo had five 30-point games in 2001-02.
Chaney awakens
Arkansas sophomore Reggie Chaney had his biggest game of the season in the first half alone, with 8 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound in 9 minutes.
The sophomore from Tulsa finished with a career-high-tying 14 points, his first game in double figures this year, on 6-of-6 shooting. He also had three rebounds and two assists.
Chaney also scored 14 points in the Razorbacks’ NIT victory at Providence last season.
Chaney had scored just two points on one shot in Arkansas’ first three SEC games while playing 18 total minutes.
23 in a row
Vanderbilt lost its 23rd consecutive SEC game, dating to late in the 2018 season.
The Commodores went 0-18 in league play last season under coach Bryce Drew, and fell to 0-3 in conference under Jerry Stackhouse.
Vandy’s last league win came 685 days ago in an 82-69 victory at Ole Miss on March 3, 2018.
Board battle
Arkansas outrebounded Vanderbilt 38-28 for its first win on the glass since the Razorbacks outrebounded Northern Kentucky 37-32 on Nov. 30.
It was Arkansas’ fourth rebounding win of the season. The Hogs also outrebounded Rice 45-27 in the season opener and South Dakota 36-30 on Nov. 22.
Guard Desi Sills notched a career-high seven rebounds for Arkansas.
3 streak
Vanderbilt and Arkansas entered the game with two of the top four streaks of made three-pointers in the country, the Commodores at 1,078 consecutive games, which ranked second in the country, and the Razorbacks at 1,026 games, tied for fourth.
Vanderbilt didn’t need long to extend its streak, as guard Maxwell Evans poured one in from beyond the arc at the 17:18 mark of the first half to put the Commodores ahead 5-4.
The Razorbacks missed their first nine three-point tries before Desi Sills nailed one from the left corner with 1:23 remaining in the first half. That three-pointer in transition, on a pass from Isaiah Joe, was set up by Jimmy Whitt’s blocked shot on Saben Lee at the other end.
Whitt jam
Jimmy Whitt wisely followed a Desi Sills’ drive to the rack on the break midway through the first half. Sills, who had just stolen the ball from Jordan Wright, missed a hard layup try in traffic, but the ball released out over the front edge of the rim, where Whitt made the catch in midair and slammed it through at the 11:58 mark to cut Vandy’s lead to 15-14.
0 for 2
Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse also faced Arkansas when he was a player at North Carolina.
The Razorbacks beat Stackhouse and the Tar Heels 75-68 in the Final Four on April 1, 1995, at the Kingdome in Seattle.
Stackhouse had 18 points and six rebounds. Corliss Williamson led Arkansas with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Two out
Vanderbilt played without two of its best players, guard Aaron Nesmith and forward Clevon Brown.
Nesmith, the SEC’s leading scorer at 23.0 points per game, is out for a lengthy amount of time, possibly the rest of the year, with a stress fracture in his foot. He missed his second consecutive game.
Brown, who averages nine points and six rebounds per game, missed his eighth straight game with a knee injury. Brown and Nesmith both made the road trip with the Commodores.
Tip-ins
• Jimmy Whitt missed his first three-point try of the year, a shot from the left wing at the halftime buzzer.
• Arkansas had a streak of 22 consecutive made free throws snapped when Jimmy Whitt missed at the 7:10 mark of the first half. The Razorbacks made their final 18 free throws in a 76-72 win at Ole Miss on Saturday.