Arkansas held on to win its first road game of the season Saturday at South Carolina.
The Razorbacks defeated the Gamecocks 65-63 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C., to snap a six-game losing streak in true road games. Arkansas had not won on the road since a Feb. 22, 2022, game at Florida and was 0-5 in road games this season.
Anthony Black made a layup with 1:21 remaining to give the Razorbacks a 64-63 lead and made 1 of 2 free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining to put Arkansas ahead 65-63.
South Carolina center Josh Gray missed a turnaround three-pointer at the buzzer. Arkansas denied the ball to the Gamecocks’ guards on the inbounds play with 2.2 seconds, which forced a three-quarter court pass to Gray, whose first three-point attempt of the season was defended by Makhel Mitchell.
Arkansas was able to hold on by forcing misses on South Carolina’s final three shots in the game's last 35 seconds.
“The league is so hard to win in, on the road or at home,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said after the game on SEC Network. “Just enough to close the game out....Hopefully we can carry a little bit of momentum in our game on Tuesday (at Kentucky).”
The Razorbacks (16-7, 5-5 SEC) took a 58-49 lead with 9:26 remaining on Davonte Davis’ fourth three-pointer of the game. Arkansas did not score again until the 2:54 mark as South Carolina mounted a 10-0 run.
Meechie Johnson made a pair of three-pointers during the Gamecocks’ run. South Carolina took the lead on two free throws by Gray with 4:03 to play.
Johnson and Gray each scored 20 points to lead the Gamecocks (8-15, 1-9). Gray had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Black gave Arkansas a 60-59 lead with two free throws with 2:54 to play. That began a stretch in which the teams traded leads five times over a 1:33 span.
Gray had dunks on consecutive South Carolina possessions, but Arkansas answered both times. Ricky Council’s up-and-under basket with 2:11 left put the Razorbacks ahead 62-61 before Black’s layup that gave Arkansas the lead for good.
Black scored 13 points and finished with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He rebounded a missed shot by Hayden Brown away from Gray on the Gamecocks’ penultimate possession, resulting in two free throws. Black made the front end of 1-and-1, but missed the second to set up the last-second heave.
Jalen Graham scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting off the bench to lead the Razorbacks. Davis added 15 points, Council scored 10 and Jordan Walsh had 10 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards.
The Razorbacks led by as many as 11 points in the first half thanks to a 12-2 run over a 4:05 stretch that was capped by a jump shot from Council. Black had five points during the run, Davis knocked down a left-corner three-pointer and Graham scored twice at the rim.
With 3:54 left in the half, Graham added an interior score to push him into double figures with 10 points. Out of the final media timeout of the half, the forward added a right-handed scoop shot late in the shot clock to extend Arkansas’ lead to 31-21.
Walsh then assisted on a dunk by Walsh with 55 seconds before halftime. Davis capped the half with his second three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining, and the Razorbacks took a 36-27 lead into the break.
Arkansas took its largest lead at 43-30 with 17:42 remaining after another left-corner three from Davis and a Mitchell layup. But Johnson pulled South Carolina within 49-43 following his third three-pointer of the half.
Davis came back with an old-fashioned three-point play to push Arkansas’ edge to 52-43.
With 7:16 left, Council was whistled for goaltending on a layup by South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright. The score trimmed the Razorbacks’ lead to 58-54 at the under-8 media timeout.
Arkansas is scheduled to play again Tuesday at Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Central and the game will be televised by ESPN.
Scottie Bordelon contributed