South Carolina bounces back with dominant home win over Arkansas

South Carolina’s is once again in the win column. With a strong defensive showing, Lamont Paris’s group managed to defeat the Razorbacks 72-53.

The Gamecocks (12-17, 2-14 SEC) doubled their conference win total with the victory at Colonial Life Arena. The win means that South Carolina has a chance, if they win out, to clinch the 15 seed in the SEC tournament instead of the 16 seed.

How it happened

South Carolina got off to a hot start against the Razorbacks, courtesy of Nick Pringle. The senior was fed early, scoring the first six points of the game and making his first three shots. D.J. Wagner hit a jumper to get the Hogs on the board, but the Gamecocks were up 6-2 at the first media timeout.

South Carolina’s momentum continued out of the break, with Morris Ugusuk entering the game and subsequently hitting a three. Just a minute later, Jamarii Thomas did the same, giving the Gamecocks a double-digit lead just six minutes in. Arkansas started 1-8 from the field with six turnovers in the first eight minutes of action.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks’ offense was clicking. South Carolina began the day with a 7-12 mark shooting in that same span. Then, the Gamecocks’ lead was extended to 16-2 by the second media timeout of the afternoon. South Carolina’s defense forced extended droughts from the Arkansas offense. The Razorbacks were held without a made field goal from 16:54 to 5:58, over ten minutes of game time.

South Carolina responded with a drought of their own, however. The Gamecocks missed nine shots in a row from the field at one point in the first half. The lead shrunk to a 19-9 margin with just over four minutes to go in the half.

That’s when the sophomore NBA draft prospect took over for a few possessions. Collin Murray-Boyles scored seven points in a row in the paint to extend the lead. Jonas Aidoo finally got Arkansas into the double digits with a free throw, but Ugusuk answered back. Another three pointer from the Finnish guard bumped the lead up to a 30-10 margin.

By the time the first buzzer sounded, the Gamecocks led 32-14, their biggest halftime margin since they led Texas by the same margin. The second half started with more of the same. South Carolina outscored Arkansas 8-2 in the first five minutes of the period.

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With 15:17 remaining in the second half, Arkansas had tallied 16 total points. Murray-Boyles had 17. The Razorbacks again struggled from the field early in the second. At one point, the team was 4-34 overall from the field, or 11.8%. South Carolina’s offense started to click, courtesy of Murray-Boyles.

Using footwork to get inside and penetrate the lane, Murray-Boyles continuously found the bottom of the net. Between his dominance in the paint and the team’s strong defense, the lead continued to balloon. Then, a three from Jordan Butler moved the lead to a 30-point margin. At the second media timeout of the second half, the score was 50-20 in favor of the Gamecocks.

Arkansas began the day with 17 straight misses from deep. Even as the Razorbacks continued to get some points from the line, South Carolina’s offense kept clicking. Later, Nick Pringle’s pair of made free throws moved the margin to 60-28 at the penultimate media timeout.

Arkansas started getting several of their shots to fall late in the game, but the margin was by all means impenetrable. Collin Murray-Boyles kept close to the Razorbacks’ scoring output all afternoon. Murray-Boyles and Pringle combined for 53 points on Saturday. When the final buzzer rang, Arkansas also had 53. The 19-point victory is the largest SEC victory for South Carolina in the Lamont Paris era.

Two observations

Strong perimeter defense can keep South Carolina in a game with any team —The Gamecocks’ defense along the outside was elite on Saturday afternoon. Arkansas struggled to find open looks, and when they did, they couldn’t convert. Coming into the day with a 33.8 3PT%, the Razorbacks made just three threes the entire afternoon. They were 0-17 until four minutes to go in the game.

Collin Murray-Boyles is a first-round talent—This might be an observation from a previous article. But it rings true again. Arkansas has a very talented group of frontcourt players, from Ivišić to Aidoo to Trevon Brazile. Murray-Boyles made that trio look foolish as he consistently found ways to get the ball in the basket. Sometimes with nimble footwork, other times with physical dominance, the sophomore showed out offensively. He finished the day with 35 points.

On the defensive end, he tallied six rebounds and four steals. For a player mocked in the lottery for the upcoming NBA draft, this was a performance that might have just made the forward some money.

Key stat

12.5 percent—The Gamecocks held the Razorbacks to 3-24 shooting in the first half and 0-8 from deep. The previous low mark this season for Arkansas in the first half was a 29.0 FG% against Florida. Arkansas scored eight of their 14 first half points from the line, and just six from the field.

The 14 points was also a low mark for Arkansas in the first half this season. Their previous low was again from the loss to Florida when the Hogs managed just 25 in the first. Arkansas’s poor shooting day continued in the second half, but the first 20 minutes set the tone for the day. Without hardly any semblance of a pulse offensively, Arkansas did not have a chance to shrink the Gamecocks’ lead.

Turning point

Nick Pringle scored inside with 10:16 left in the first half. At that point, the lead was 18-3 in favor of South Carolina. The opening punch effectively knocked out the Razorbacks. John Calipari’s squad did not bring the margin to single digits the rest of the way. Much like the performance against Texas, getting out to an early lead allowed South Carolina to set the tone. The game was never in doubt, and Arkansas never led.

Up next

South Carolina stays home to face off against Georgia on Tuesday night. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.

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