South Carolina vs. Arkansas Basketball: South Carolina basketball hasn’t won a game in the SEC Tournament since 2018, but that recent futility won’t affect the Game Cox as they prepare to face Arkansas in a second-round game on Thursday (3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
South Carolina’s Quest: Slow Down Khalif Battle
Arkansas’ Khalif Battle is the hottest player in the SEC. The graduate guard who transferred from Temple has led the razorbacks in scoring in each of their past 6 games, starting with a 42-point effort in a Feb, 24 win over Missouri on south Carolina vs. Arkansas basketball.
The season we had,” South Carolina coach Lamont Parris said. Don’t think for a second that guys don’t believe that any team we play can’t be beat. A lot of teams feel that way, but they look at what we’ve done this season. Looking back, there is much evidence to suggest they may have been right.
With a school-record 14-game improvement over last season, South Carolina (25-6, 13-5 SEC) tied for second in the final SEC standings, but fell to No. 5 in the tournament due to a tiebreaker.
Arkansas (16-16, 6-12), the tournament’s No. 12 seed, advanced to Wednesday’s opening round by holding off Vanderbilt 90-85 in overtime.
South Carolina vs. Arkansas basketball:
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The 42 points were a career high, including a school-record tying 14-of-14 attempts from the free throw line, and were the most points for an SEC player this season. Battle is averaging 31.2 points over the last six games.
South Carolina vs. Arkansas basketball:
South Carolina entered the game with an extra day of rest and a No. 15 ranking next to its name. The Gamecocks have won four of their last five regular season games, including a home win over ranked Florida and an impressive road win at Mississippi State.
“I don’t really know how the game will unfold tomorrow,” Musselman said. “Our guys played extended minutes, obviously. So we’re going to dive into film tonight. We don’t have a long time to prepare. Obviously we’re not going to shoot tomorrow and they’re not going to be on their feet. Jim has to walk through anything anywhere, so it’s It’s got to be a really tough walkthrough in a ballroom, like an NBA team can do at night.”
South Carolina vs. Arkansas basketball:
“Arkansas has definitely grown since then,” South Carolina guard Mechi Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “They played pretty well, I’d say, against Alabama a few days ago. They’ve got talent.”
This is basically a copy and paste of picks from Wednesday’s game against Vanderbilt, in which a total of 175 points were scored.
The over/under total for Arkansas’ final game of the regularly season at alabama was set at 173.5. To be fair, the Crimson Tide is the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, but Arkansas has averaged 182.4 total points over its last five games. South Carolina vs. Arkansas basketball is very nice game.
Two of South Carolina’s three regular season games have been over 143.5, so this seems like a safe bet.
Game Cox’s Ta’lon Cooper could be the Razorbacks’ primary concern
B.J. Mack had 18 points, 3 of 4 from 3-point range and nine rebounds in South Carolina’s 77-64 win at Arkansas on Jan. 20, but it was Cooper who was most impressed by Arkansas coach Eric Musselman’s Gamecocks’ Ta’lon.
I think he’s got really good shape, I think he understands spacing, I thought he probably defended individually as well as anyone we faced, Musselman said. “Super tough, really smart, high basketball IQ. I think he’s a good guy, the disparity is underscored statistically. Thanks to their strategy, the Gamecocks rank first in the SEC in scoring defense at 66.4 points per South Carolina vs. Arkansas Basketball game; the Razorbacks, on the other hand, at a 78.1 clip. scoring, fifth best in the league and averaging 93.5 points over their past four games.
South Carolina vs. Arkansas basketball:
Prophecy
South Carolina 73, Arkansas 66: The Gamecocks will soon be bound for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to concede anything to our league in the SEC Tournament. Ards and probably aren’t talked about nearly enough.”
The opposing style will test the skills of both teams
Thursday’s game is expected to feature contrasting styles — essentially Arkansas’ fast-paced offense versus South Carolina’s deliberate, slow-paced approach.