FAYETTEVILLE - The Arkansas Razorbacks understand any hope they had of playing in the NCAA Tournament ended with their 75-72 loss to Vanderbilt on Thursday night in their SEC Tournament opener at Bridgestone Arena.
Arkansas (19-13) had to win four games in four days to earn the SEC’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Instead, the Razorbacks lost their first game in the SEC Tournament for a fifth consecutive year.
“It’s very heart-breaking, because at the end of day you want to get to the NCAA Tournament and have a chance to win a national championship,” Arkansas junior forward Coty Clarke said. “It hurts, but like Coach said, the NCAA Tournament isn’t going to happen. We’ll take the next best thing and look forward to playing in that.”
The next best thing for a team that doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament is the NIT, where Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said he hopes the Razorbacks will have a spot when the field is announced Sunday night after the NCAA Tournament field is set.
“I’d love for this team to continue to play,” Anderson said. “They’ve had a good year. They’ve improved from last year. They did some good things. If we have an opportunity to play and get some more practice time, that will only benefit our team.”
Arkansas’ players said they’ll be excited to play in the NIT if given the opportunity.
“I would love to play in it,” redshirt junior forward Marshawn Powell said. “I love playing basketball, so I would love to keep playing.”
The Razorbacks finished seventh in the SEC with a 10-8 record and could be competing with several SEC teams for NIT bids depending on how many conference teams make the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m kind of concerned about it,” Powell said of a possible NIT bid. “I mean, we really can’t dwell on it. The only thing we can do is wait until Sunday and see.”
Powell said it will be tough to wait three days to learn whether the Razorbacks make the NIT field. Adding to his anxiety is the thought he may have played his last game for Arkansas because he’s considering pursuing a professional career after the season ends.
“Who knows what I might choose?” Powell said. “I really don’t know, man. I really don’t like to go out like that, the way we lost. I don’t want to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths.”
Bankrollsports.com, a website that predicts the NIT’s 32-team bracket, lists Arkansas as one of four No. 4 seeds among the eight-team regions. If the Razorbacks are in the NIT and seeded that high, they will open in Walton Arena, where they are 17-1 this season.
The NIT guarantees spots for conference regular-season champions who don’t make the NCAA Tournament, and those teams that appear NIT bound include Charleston Southern (Big South), Louisiana Tech (Western Athletic), Mercer (Atlantic Sun), Niagara (Metro Atlantic), Norfolk State (Mid-Eastern Athletic), Northeastern (Colonial), Robert Morris (Northeast) and Stony Brook (America East).
Sun Belt champion Middle Tennessee State has hopes of making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team but could fall to the NIT.
The NIT’s first three rounds are played on campus sites. The Final Four is then held in New York at Madison Square Garden. The Razorbacks advanced to the Final Four the last time they played in the NIT in 1997.
Arkansas sophomore guard BJ Young, who also is weighing whether to turn pro after this season, said he’d “love” to play in the NIT.
“I want to play as many games as we can,” Young said.
“I feel that way, and I’m sure everybody in the locker room does, too,” sophomore guard Ky Madden said. “It’s a game we enjoy and love to play. We get the opportunity, I’m all for it.”
If the Razorbacks make the NIT field, they won’t have much time to get ready for the opener. First-round games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday.
SEC Tournament At Bridgestone Arena Nashville, Tenn.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
LSU 68, Georgia 63 Tennessee 69, Mississippi State 53 Vanderbilt 75, Arkansas 72 Missouri 62, Texas A&M 50
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Florida 80, LSU 58 Alabama 58, Tennessee 48 Vanderbilt 64, Kentucky 48 Mississippi 64, Missouri 62
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Florida vs. Alabama, noon Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi, 2:30 p.m.
Tournament coverage, Page 4C.
Sports, Pages 19 on 03/16/2013