Resume Check: Looking ahead to South Carolina basketball's next opponent, the Arkansas Razorbacks

South Carolina basketball finished the regular season at 12-19 overall, 2-16 in conference play, and last place in the SEC. However, the Gamecocks still have a chance to pull off a miraculous run to the NCAA Tournament. To do so, though, USC must win five games in a row at the SEC Tournament.

The Gamecocks’ first test in Nashville this week will come on Wednesday against the same Arkansas Razorbacks they blew out about a week ago in Columbia.

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Resume Check: Arkansas Razorbacks

Record: 19-12 (8-10 in SEC)
AP Ranking: N/A
Last Week: Win over Vanderbilt 90-77 in Nashville, Win over Mississippi State 93-92 in Fayetteville
Previous Meeting: South Carolina won 72-53 in Columbia just a week ago

The 16-seed South Carolina basketball team will match up with the 9-seed Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday. Despite being a likely NCAA Tournament team, Coach John Calipari’s team has not lived up to expectations this season.

Some of the disappointment in Fayetteville hasn’t been the Razorbacks’ fault. Arkansas has dealt with injuries this season as star guard Boogie Fland has missed about half of the year, and starting forward Adou Thiero has missed time, as well.

Some of the disappointment, though, falls squarely on the team’s shoulders.

Coming into the SEC Tournament, Arkansas’ offense has been below average. However, in four of their last five games (a blowout loss to South Carolina being the other), they have scored at least 85 points. Ranked 11th in the SEC in total scoring and 3-point shooting percentage, the Hogs haven’t been able to match their recent offensive production over the course of the whole season.

Distributing the basketball and running the offense has been up and down since Fland’s injury. Four of the team’s five worst assist totals have come since Fland has been out of the lineup.

Defensively, Arkansas is a solid unit. Three Razorbacks (Zvonimir Ivisic, Travon Brazile, and Jonas Aidoo) rank in the top 18 in the SEC in blocked shots. Their efforts are why the team ranks second in the conference in the statistic. As a group, Arkansas holds opponents to less than 49% on 2-point field goals and below 32% from the arc. They also don’t foul much as John Calipari’s team has the third-lowest free throws allowed total in the league.

Bland will miss the South Carolina game, and Thiero hasn’t played in about two weeks. Both were listed as “out” ahead of Arkansas’ regular season finale against Mississippi State.

For what it’s worth, Calipari has never beaten South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris. Paris is 3-0 against Coach Cal. Two wins came while Calipari was the headman at Kentucky and a third was earlier this year with Arkansas.

The South Carolina Gamecocks and Arkansas Razorbacks will face off at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. The game will air on SEC Network and stream on the ESPN app.

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