Live Blog: No. 15 Vanderbilt Basketball at No. 20 Arkansas

Vanderbilt tries to snap its two-game losing streak in a tough road environment.

Jan 17, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke (10) drives to the basket against the Florida Gators during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Time to see if Vanderbilt can get a notable conference win on its resume or if the slide will continue.

Vanderbilt takes a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas Tuesday night for a showdown with No. 20 Arkansas in a game where Vanderbilt is looking to get back on track after a rough time over the past week. The Commodores will enter Bud Walton Arena on a two-game losing streak with losses to Texas and a top 20 Florida team that went down to the wire.

Vanderbilt’s last two games took its record from 16-0 to 16-2 and tied with six other teams at 3-2 in the SEC standings. The Commodores have had trouble staying out of foul trouble and winning on the boards, being outrebounded by 14 or more in each of their last two games.

Arkansas is one of those teams that Vanderbilt is tied with in the conference standings. The Razorbacks have been one of the most up and down teams in the conference with wins against Tennessee and Ole Miss and blowout losses to Auburn and Georgia.

Tuesday night, who knows which Arkansas team Vanderbilt is going to get. Either way, Vanderbilt is going to have to find a way to win in the post. Arkansas is not the best team in the conference in offensive rebounding, which is good for Vanderbilt. But the Commodores have got to limit second chance opportunities in the game. In their latest game against Florida, the Commodores were outscored 22-8 in second chance points and was a deciding factor in the loss.

The game could come down to guard play between Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas. The highest producers for Vanderbilt must show up in a big way both scoring the ball and defending Arkansas’ lethal guards.

Vanderbilt and Arkansas are set to tipoff at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Follow the live blog here for live updates from tonight’s Vanderbilt-Arkansas game.

Live Blog

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1st Half

• Tyler Nickel hits Vanderbilt's first three-pointer, but Duke Miles gets his second foul shortly after. One of the leading scorers for Vanderbilt will be on the bench for quite a while one would expect. 18-8 Arkansas at the under 12 timeout.

• Arkansas is pouring on the offense right now as Vanderbilt now trails 15-4. Arkansas is driving to the basket at will and scoring seemingly every time. Definitely not the start Vanderbilt wanted.

• Vanderbilt finds itself in trouble early down 9-2. Commodores are 1-for-6 shooting and have turned the ball over. Mike James took a hard fall on the last play before the first media timeout.

Pregame

• Vanderbilt and Arkansas are set to tipoff at 8:10 p.m. CT on ESPN.

• According to the injury report, Vanderbilt guard Frankie Collins was listed as “doubtful” for today’s game. That is actually good news considering he has been listed as simply “out” in the initial injury reports for the past few weeks. Perhaps that could indicate that he is close to returning, but time will tell.

• With Vanderbilt going on the road tonight, Vanderbilt On SI will be covering the game today remotely. Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will be on the call on ESPN tonight in Fayetteville in what is going to be a game that is sure to have a meaningful impact on the standings.