The South Carolina men’s basketball team lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks 72-68 on March 12 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, losing its first game of the SEC Tournament.
The Gamecocks scored the first points of the game after senior guard Jacobi Wright made a 3-pointer, the game remained close throughout the first four minutes.
However, in the following two minutes, the Gamecocks went 0-4 from the field and allowed Arkansas to take a 2-point lead after sophomore guard DJ Wagner made a 3-pointer. Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles ended the Gamecocks’ scoring drought and tied the game at 12 after making both of his free throws.
Senior guard Jamarii Thomas and Murray-Boyles kept the game against the Razorbacks competitive early with several lead changes during the first half.
Although the game stayed close between the two teams at first, the momentum swung in favor for the Razorbacks midway through the first half as it went on a 13-4 run in four minutes to create a 6-point lead over the Gamecocks .
The deficit continued to grow to close the first half as the Gamecocks ended the first half down 17 points with graduate forward Jonas Aidoo leading Arkansas with 14 points.
The second half opened with Arkansas increasing its lead to 20 points as it made three of its first four shots to open the half. The Gamecocks responded with what started as a 7-0 scoring run to cut the deficit down to 11 points eight minutes into the second half.
Arkansas’ offense struggled to score after its hot start in the second half. The Razorbacks went 11 minutes without making a field goal in the second half.
"I think defensively, there was a different level of not only attention to detail but in general urgency,” head coach Lamont Paris said. "I told the guys at halftime if 23 was the number of points they ended up scoring in the second half then I really really liked where we were going to be."
The scoring drought allowed the Gamecocks to cut the deficit down to one point. However, Wagner ended the scoring drought for the Razorbacks with two and a half minutes left. From there, the Gamecocks and Razorbacks exchanged baskets as the game remained close.
Freshman guard Cam Scott made a dunk off an opponent turnover to cut the deficit to 2 points with two seconds left. The Gamecocks were forced to foul graduate guard Johnell Davis who put the game out of reach after hitting both of his free throws to secure the win for the Razorbacks .
Second half turnaround
The first half started well for the Gamecocks but ended with a 17 point deficit to overcome going into the second half. South Carolina made its best efforts to overcome that deficit by forcing 11 turnovers to hold its opponent 35-28 in the second half.
"We knew we gave up too many in the first half,” Wright said. "So we had to really tighten up on the defensive end to even give ourselves a chance to be in the game."
The Gamecocks also out rebounded the Razorbacks in the second half 24-16 which limited the Razorbacks ability to score second chance points. Murray-Boyles led the team in rebounds with 12 to end the season.
Duo of Collin Murray-Boyles and Jamarii Thomas
Murray-Boyles and Thomas finished with 20 and 18 points respectively in their final game this season. The duo worked together in both halves to keep the Gamecocks in the game for a chance at a comeback.
Although the Gamecocks fell short of a win this afternoon, Murray-Boyles finished with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds. Thomas spaced the floor for the Gamecocks, hitting 3 out of the team’s eight made 3-pointers along with 16 points total .
Both players also made an impact on defense with a block and two steals each.
Too big of a first half deficit
South Carolina outscored Arkansas 35-28 in the second half. Despite performing better in the second half, the Gamecocks fell short in the final minutes as it could not overcome the deficit from the first half.
The Gamecocks’ late surge to come back in the game was a valiant effort but the 17 point deficit didn’t allow room for any mistakes to be made in the second half. Senior forward Nick Pringle ended the game with three fouls and Murray-Boyles fouled out in the last minute of the game.
The foul trouble along with shooting 25% from the three stifled the Gamecock offense and is one of the reasons why the Gamecocks were unable to outscore the Razorbacks in the final two minutes. After the game, Murray-Boyles said "knowing the objective" is the key to winning instead of losing the close games the Gamecocks has had this season.
"Just knowing our objective and what we need to do as a team,” Murray-Boyles said. "Instead of having those close games where we might mess up on one play and then try to get it back."