Arkansas Razorbacks’ Season Ends With Second Round Sec Tournament Loss To South Carolinan Gamecocks

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The 12-seed Arkansas Razorbacks saw their season come to an end Thursday evening with an 80-66 loss to the 5-seed and 15th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Arkansas posted a 16-17 overall record during the 2023-24 season — the program’s first losing season since 2009-10 — after it went 1-1 at the SEC Tournament with an overtime win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday and the loss to the Gamecocks on Thursday.

The Razorbacks trailed by just three at halftime, but they were out-scored by 11 in the final 20 minutes to lose in blowout fashion. South Carolina scored 52 points in the paint, while Arkansas had 66 total points in the game.

South Carolina freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting. The Gamecocks forced 14 turnovers against the Hogs and turned that into 17 points, plus they turned 12 offensive rebounds into 19 second chance points.

Khalif Battle led Arkansas with 20 points and seven rebounds, and the Hogs did shoot 50.0% from the field. Makhi Mitchell had 15 points and five rebounds, while Jalen Graham added 11 points in his first action since Feb. 14.

Brazile knocked down 3-pointers on each of the Razorbacks’ first two possessions, and then two of the next three shots were made baskets from Khalif Battle — who also had a made free throw via an and-1 — to make it an 11-5 lead for the Hogs at the first media timeout.

Murray-Boyles scored nine of the next 11 points for the Gamecocks to cut Arkansas’ lead to 15-14 by the 11:32 mark in the first half — which is also when Brazile drew his second foul and hit the bench.

Graham checked in for the first time since Feb. 14 and immediately hit a layup for the Hogs to tie the game at 17-17 after South Carolina just made a 3-pointer to take a brief lead.

The pace of the game went to another level over the next few minutes with both teams trading blows — baskets and hits. Arkansas held a 24-23 lead…

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Author : HawgBeat

Publish date : 2024-03-14 22:28:03

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