The Arkansas Razorbacks (20-12, 8-10 SEC) are advancing in the SEC Tournament after a close 72-68 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks (12-20, 2-17 SEC) on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Throughout the first half, Arkansas built up a sizable lead and looked to cruise to an easy win, but as with many other games this season, the Hogs let up on the gas. After they led by as many as 20 points in the second half, the Razorbacks went nearly 12 minutes without a made field goal and eight minutes without any points at all.
That scoring drought allowed the Gamecocks to chip away at the lead until they trailed by just one, 61-60, with 3:55 minutes left. D.J. Wagner drained a three with 2:37 minutes left to put the Hogs up four, but South Carolina kept pushing until the final buzzer.
Even after Johnell Davis sank a pair of free throws to put the Hogs up 70-64 with 17 seconds remaining, the Gamecocks got a pair of buckets in the lane to cut the lead to just two with three seconds left. However, Davis knocked down another two shots from the charity stripe to ice the game.
The Hogs, who are the 9-seed in this SEC Tournament, will advance to play Ole Miss on Thursday at noon.
Here are some of HawgBeat's takeaways from Wednesday's win...
