FAYETTEVILLE -- In a season full of bad losses for the University of Arkansas men's basketball team, Tuesday night's defeat against Vanderbilt might have been the worst.
The Commodores held on to beat Arkansas 85-82 at Walton Arena, but it was more about the opponent than the final margin in grading the Razorbacks' losses.
Arkansas (14-14, 5-10) suffered its fifth SEC home loss, but the previous four came against teams ranked in this week's Associated Press poll.
Auburn handed Arkansas its most-lopsided loss in Walton Arena's 31-year history, 82-51 in the SEC opener, but the Tigers are ranked No. 11.
Tennessee's 92-63 victory was Arkansas' third-worst loss by margin at Walton Arena, but the Volunteers are ranked No. 4.
Arkansas also lost at home to No. 18 South Carolina 77-64 and to No. 16 Kentucky 63-57.
Even North Carolina-Greensboro's 78-72 victory over the Razorbacks at Walton Arena doesn't seem horrible considering the Spartans were 20-9 going into their game against VMI on Wednesday night.
But losing to Vanderbilt is a different deal.
The Commodores (8-20, 3-12) had been 0-8 on the road before winning at Arkansas and they came into the game ranked 346th nationally in field-goal shooting (39.0%), 322nd in scoring (66.1 points game) and 286th in field-goal defense (45.4%).
Somehow the Razorbacks managed to make Vanderbilt look good on offense after the Commodores shot 33.3% in an 88-53 loss at Tennessee, 36.2% in a 76-64 loss to Georgia at home and 35.7% in a 77-64 loss at Florida in the previous three games.
Vanderbilt hadn't shot 50% or better in a game this season until running into the Razorbacks.
The Commodores shot 51.7% (29 of 57) against Arkansas. In 27 previous games, Vanderbilt's highest shooting had been 48.1% (26 of 64) in a 75-60 loss at South Carolina on Feb. 10.
The Commodores had scored fewer than 70 points in 12 of their SEC games prior to Tuesday night. Their previous highest-scoring games this season had been an 84-78 loss to North Carolina State, a 78-59 victory over Alabama A&M and a 109-77 loss to Kentucky.
"Defensively we've been pretty decent of late, but defense killed us," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said on the Razorback Sports Network postgame radio show. "A tough, tough loss."
Razorbacks junior guard Tramon Mark missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer that could have tied the game and sent it to overtime.
"We put ourselves in that position because of our lack of defense for, in my opinion, most of the game," Musselman said.
After Vanderbilt took a 69-53 lead with 6:07 left, Arkansas hit 4 of 5 three-pointers in the final 3:50 -- with Khalif Battle 2 of 3 and Trevon Brazile and El Ellis each 1 of 1 -- to pull within 83-82 with five seconds left.
Vanderbilt guard Ezra Manjon hit two free throws with 3.5 seconds left for the game's final points.
"Credit to them for getting the tough road win, but it really sucks because I feel like we were just one possession away," said Battle, who scored a game-high 36 points and had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, but also 6 turnovers. "As bad as we were as a whole, including myself, we were one possession away.
"That's the part that's the hardest. One more stop, one more shot, one more rebound. ... That's the part that's the hardest to cope with right now. It's just tough."
Manjon led the Commodores with 22 points and Lawrence scored 21.
"We just wanted to continue to get those guys attacking downhill," Commodores Coach Jerry Stackhouse said on Vanderbilt's postgame radio show.
Along with driving attempts by Manjon and Lawrence, the Commodores got a strong game inside by 6-8 sophomore Ven-Allen Lubick and outscored the Razorbacks 44-26 on points in the paint to help offset shooting 4 of 16 on three-pointers.
Lubick had 19 points and 12 rebounds. His final rebound was a killer for Arkansas when he grabbed a missed free throw by Lawrence, scored on a put-back, was fouled by Jeremiah Davenport and hit the free throw to complete a three-point play that gave Vanderbilt an 83-77 lead with 21.8 seconds left.
While the Commodores were enjoying their best-shooting game of the season, they held Arkansas to 40.4% from the field (23 of 57).
Stackhouse credited the Commodores switching from a man-to-man to a zone defense for helping Vanderbilt rally after Arkansas had jumped out to a 20-10 lead.
"We've been pretty good against teams that have played zone," Musselman said. "Tonight shots didn't fall, and they kept the lane pretty compact and tried to force us to beat them from over the top."
Arkansas appeared to be building some late-season momentum after playing Mississippi State tough on the road in a 71-67 loss, winning 78-71 at Texas A&M and beating Missouri 88-73 at Walton Arena. But any good vibes evaporated with the brutal loss to Vanderbilt.
"It sucks, but we've got to stay positive," Battle said. "We've still got basketball left, still got the conference tournament.
"The work does not stop. We've just got to keep on pushing."
Arkansas plays at Kentucky (20-8, 10-5) on Saturday in a game televised by CBS.
Next week the Razorbacks have their final home game against LSU, then close the regular season at No. 14 Alabama before the SEC Tournament starts on March 13 in Nashville, Tenn.
"We've got to get ready for Kentucky and then LSU and then Bama, and whoever else we play," Musselman said. "We've got to get ready for each and every game.
"Get back to the drawing board and we'll start working on Kentucky tonight."
Vanderbilt’s Isaiah West (4) drives to the basket against Arkansas’ Davonte Davis on Tuesday night during the Commodores’ victory over the Razorbacks at Walton Arena. Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said after the game that he was disappointed with his team’s defense in the loss. “Defensively we’ve been pretty decent of late, but defense killed us,” Musselman said. More photos at arkansasonline.com/229vandyua/. (NWA Democrat Gazette/Caleb Grieger)