The Razorbacks (14-12, 7-4 SEC) defeated South Carolina (14-11, 5-6 SEC) 92-79 on Wednesday night.
The Gamecocks suffered a bad loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks last night and now have gone from NCAA bubble watch team to NIT bubble watch team.
Blame it on Devan Downey’s ankle as he tweaked it in the closing minutes of the first half or blame it on Freshman Marshawn Powell who scored a game-high 26 points with 8 rebounds. Heck, give me something to blame as that outing was sloppy.
Carolina just seemed over-matched in the closing minutes and then Arkansas came out of the gates to start the second half stronger and more determined. A nice 17-1 run in the early going of the second half will change a game and seemed to crash the hopes of the gamecocks.
Star Watch:
· Courtney Fortson had19 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists
· Sam Muldrow scored a career-high 23 points, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blks
· Devan Downey scored 28 points, 4 steals, 1 rb, 7 assists yet 8 turnovers
Consider this:
· The Gamecocks missed (38) as many shots as Arkansas made (30).
· The Gamecocks committed 30 fouls to Arkansas’s 17. The Hogs got 27 points from the free throw line.
· USC had 18 turnovers and got outrebounded 26-38.
· Again Carolina evoked the “live and die” philosophy from behind the arc – went 11-29 from 3 ball land.
Just those bullet points alone tell the story.
Happy to see better ball movement from the Gamecocks as they shelled a total of 14 assists this game which is the most I’ve seen in awhile. Yet their post play was horrific. Muldrow did score but many of his shots were from outside. We need a better low block game – Steed, Jefferson, Jackson?
The way Carolina is playing right now, I fear the UT Vols game on Saturday. If Arkansas can make USC look like a Div II team then what can the Vols do? I hope the home court advantage comes into play and Darrin Horn recommends that Carolina not play anymore away games because they are now 1-8.
Time to wake up Carolina and accept the dream of the NCAA’s is over – now do what it takes to get a NIT berth. Do not let the entire season be a wash.
