Arkansas narrowly defeats South Carolina, 65-63
The Arkansas Razorbacks (16-7, 5-5) escaped what would have been an embarrassing loss Saturday at South Carolina (8-15, 1-9) by narrowly defeating the Gamecocks, 65-63.
After trailing by 13 at one point in the second half, the Hogs let the Gamecocks back in the game, particularly by allowing guard Meechie Johnson to score 17 points and hit five threes in the final 20 minutes.
Arkansas shot 57.7% from the field in the first half, but that number dropped nearly 20% in the second half. South Carolina shot 50% from the field in the second half, but it just wasn't enough to overcome the Hogs.
Jalen Graham paced the Razorbacks with 16 points, but he struggled defensively against South Carolina's Josh Gray, who had a season-best 20 points and 14 rebounds. Davonte Davis added 15 points and Anthony Black scored 13 for the Hogs.
Here is a recap of Saturday's game in Columbia, South Carolina, which brought Arkansas to .500 in conference play.
For the second game in a row, Arkansas went with a starting five of Black, Ricky Council IV, Davis, Makhi Mitchell and Makhel Mitchell.
Neither team could find an offensive groove early on, and a three from South Carolina's Gregory "GG" Jackson was the highlight of a game that was tied at 5-5 by the first media timeout.
Just four minutes later, only seven combined points had been scored by the two squads. No Arkansas player had made multiple baskets and a switch to zone defense by the Gamecocks led to three Razorback turnovers early.
Out of the under-12 media timeout, Arkansas' offense woke up with a 12-2 run that featured a pair of layups from Graham, a three ball from Davis and five total points from Black.
A quick six-point swing by South Carolina cut the Razorbacks' lead to 23-18 with 6:04 to play in the first half. Graham continued his dominance to get him to 10 points and give the Hogs an eight-point advantage at the final media break of the first half.
South Carolina did its best to put together a late first half run, but a dunk from Walsh and a trey from Davis powered the Hogs to a 36-27 lead at the break. The Hogs managed to shoot 57.7% from the field in the first 20 minutes, and Graham had a game-high 12 points.
Davis' third made shot of the game was also his third three and it gave the Hogs a 41-30 lead, their largest of the game to that point, less than two minutes into the second half.
South Carolina's Josh Gray was almost single handedly keeping his team in the game, as he had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds by the first media timeout at the second half. Arkansas led the Gamecocks 43-34 by that point.
A made three from Johnson brought South Carolina within six points at the 12:32 mark, but Davis stole the ball and drove down the court to hit a jumper and draw the foul going into the under-12 media timeout. He completed the 3-point play by hitting the free throw out of the break.
The Gamecocks cut the game to six once again with just under 10 minutes to play, but Davis came right back with his fourth three of the game. Johnson stayed at it, and his team trailed by just four after he knocked down his fourth three and a Walsh goaltending gave the Gamecocks two more points at the 7:15 mark.
Johnson knocked down another three with 5:09 to play and it cut Arkansas' lead to just one. Gray hit a pair of free throws to put South Carolina up 59-58 with just over four minutes left.
Right out of the final media timeout of the second half, Black ended a 6:33 scoring drought with two free throws that gave Arkansas the lead again. Black caused another lead change with a layup to put Arkansas ahead 64-63, and Eric Musselman called for a timeout to game plan the final 1:19 with his team.
Following a missed free throw by Davis, South Carolina had 19 seconds and a chance to draw up a game-winning play. The Gamecocks had an opportunity, but Hayden Brown missed a reverse layup and Black came down with the rebound. Black was fouled, hit one free throw and missed the second to give South Carolina 2.3 seconds to work with down 65-63. The cross-court shot from Gray was no good, and Arkansas escaped with a win.
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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