South Carolina's season ends with near-comeback loss to Arkansas in SEC Tournament

South Carolina looked dead in the water and ready for a long, disappointing season to come to an end. In a 17-point hole, the Gamecocks needed a miracle coming out of halftime on Wednesday.

And with a strong effort, they nearly did the impossible. They fought back and got within one point of taking the lead in the closing minutes. But as has been the case more times than not, they came up just short.

The Gamecocks (12-20, 2-16 SEC) suffered a season-ending 72-68 loss to Arkansas in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

How it happened

The Razorbacks made it a point of emphasis to play down low and drive to the basket from the get-go. Mainly, when Collin Murray-Boyles wasn’t on the floor, they exploited South Carolina’s other frontcourt players and held the Gamecocks to just one offensive rebound in the first half.

Arkansas also got some strong play from its frontcourt, which was something it didn’t have in the first matchup earlier this month. While Zvonimir Ivišić was kept in check, Jonas Aidoo had 14 first-half points on 6-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds. Trevon Brazile also knocked down a pair of three-pointers.

Despite some struggles, South Carolina hung around and cut the deficit down to six with three minutes to go before the break. However, Arkansas finished strong with an 11-0 run to take a commanding 47-30 lead.

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One real problem that the Gamecocks had in the first half was not getting much production aside from a few players. Murray-Boyles, Jamarii Thomas and Jordan Butler had 24 of the team’s 30 points. The rest of the team went a combined 1-for-12 from the field.

But in the second half, Cam Scott, who hasn’t played much this year, got some early action and sank his first two three-point tries of the game. This seemed to provide a bit of a spark as South Carolina went on a 7-0 run and held Arkansas without a point for nearly four minutes.

The momentum in the game had flipped in South Carolina’s favor. It went on a 19-2 run over a nine-plus minute stretch to make it a one-point game with under four to go.

Arkansas finally got itself in the scoring column for the first time in nearly eight minutes after Jordan Butler couldn’t corral an open defensive rebound. This gave the Razorbacks new life and led to a three-pointer by D.J. Wagner to go back up by four.

With three seconds left, South Carolina got within two after a steal by Murray-Boyles and a dunk by Scott. But the Gamecocks were forced to foul and put Arkansas back up by four after two made free throws.

Two observations

Respect the second-half effort—Just like it has all year, South Carolina didn’t quit or give up when the going got tough, with a 17-point deficit at halftime. The Gamecocks were the better team for most of the second half and only trailed by one with

Others stepped up around CMB—If this was Murray-Boyles’ last game at South Carolina, it was a good one, with 20 points and 12 rebounds. But he got some much-needed help from other contributors. Thomas had 16 and Jacobi Wright had 13. Even Scott put together some nice moments with eight points in eight minutes.

Key stat

24 to 16—Despite losing, South Carolina was able to get back in the game with a much better rebounding performance after halftime. The Gamecocks outrebounded Arkansas 24-16 in the second half.

Turning point

Down by one with 2:37 left to go in the game, Butler failed to grab a critical rebound with no one around him. As a result, Arkansas got on the scoreboard for the first time in nearly eight minutes with a Wagner three-pointer. This gave the Razorbacks a pulse when they were on life support.

Up next

South Carolina will head into a long off-season with much work for the 2025-26 season. The transfer portal window opens Monday, March 24 and closes Tuesday, April 22.

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