In the first game of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament, Arkansas and Vanderbilt met in front of a near-capacity crowd at Bridgestone Arena in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Both needing a miracle to continue their season, Arkansas and Vanderbilt delivered an exciting appetizer for Southeastern Conference fans to enjoy behind the heavy hitting of Thursday takes centerstage.

Vanderbilt opened the game smelling bacon as the Commodores raced to an early lead over the Arkansas Razorbacks. As the first half progressed, so did the Vanderbilt Commodores’ lead over Arkansas, going as high as 41-27 at the break. Making the short drive from the West End of Nashville, Vanderbilt fans started to echo chants of VU throughout the hallowed confines of Bridgestone Arena. Arkansas struggled to find their groove in the first half as Vanderbilt used the same gameplan from the Florida win on Saturday.

As halftime gave way to the second half, new life for Coach Musselman and his Arkansas Razorbacks came forth as the Razorbacks faced the harsh reality of a season-ending loss if things didn’t change quickly.

Arkansas opened the second half with a forced five-second violation on Vanderbilt, giving Arkansas the ball to start the second half. As a sign of things to come, Arkansas would fight like hell to tie the game with 8:41 on the clock. Vanderbilt would battle back to regain a 60-58 lead over Arkansas with 8:06 on the game clock. At the under-8 media timeout, Arkansas would nail a three to make it 61-60 Razorbacks.

As echoes of calling the hogs and Achnor Down filled the arena, the near sell-out crowd anticipated a theatrical finish to game one of thirteen of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament. A finish that only the basketball gods of the SEC could script to open the Tournament action in Nashville.

Vanderbilt responded to the Arkansas three-pointer with a jump shot to tie the game at 62 with a little over seven minutes remaining. At the game’s final media timeout, Arkansas held on for dear life to a 72-68 lead over Vanderbilt. As minutes turned to seconds, Arkansas and Vanderbilt delivered blow after blow before a Vanderbilt shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, giving the fans SEC Madness in game one of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament. Ultimately, it was Arkansas making the big plays to come away with a win to open the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

With the win, Arkansas will play South Carolina in the second game on Thursday afternoon with a national television audience on the SEC Network.