South Carolina sandwiched a 16-0 run around the halftime break and the 15th-ranked Gamecocks eliminated Arkansas at the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament with an 80-66 victory Thursday.
The loss likely ended the season for the Razorbacks (16-17), whose only postseason chance would be a secondary tournament.
South Carolina (26-6) advanced to play 11th-ranked Auburn in the tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon in Nashville, Tenn.
The Gamecocks scored the final six first-half points and took a 38-35 lead when Meechie Johnson went the length of the floor for an easy layup at the halftime buzzer. South Carolina scored the first 10 points of the second half and went ahead 48-35 on Ta’Lon Cooper’s jumper with 16:43 to play.
Arkansas did not get closer than within six points the rest of the way. The Gamecocks led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
Much like the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 20 in Fayetteville, a 77-64 South Carolina victory, Arkansas was unable to contain the Gamecocks near the basket. South Carolina outscored Arkansas 52-38 in the paint, out-rebounded the Razorbacks 12-4 on the offensive end and scored 19 second-chance points.
South Carolina's Collin Boyles-Murray scored 24 points and had 7 rebounds and B.J. Mack had 19 points and 9 rebounds to lead the attack down low. Big man Josh Gray added 8 points and 2 rebounds in 14 effective minutes.
Khalif Battle scored 20 points to lead the Razorbacks. Makhi Mitchell scored 15 and Jalen Graham added 11.
Arkansas shot 27 of 52, but was just 3 of 13 from three-point range and struggled to get to the free-throw line where it went 9 of 10.
South Carolina shot 32 of 61 and 3 of 15 from beyond the arc. The Gamecocks made 13 of 21 free throws.
Playing its second game in two days, Arkansas played almost an inverted version of its 90-85 overtime victory over Vanderbilt in the first round of the tournament Wednesday. In that game the Razorbacks played poorly in the first half but rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to advance.
Arkansas opened the South Carolina game with an 11-3 run. Trevon Brazile hit back-to-back three-pointers and Battle added a three-point play and transition layup during the early spurt.
The Gamecocks outscored the Razorbacks by 22 from there, but it was competitive for a while. The first half included 13 lead changes and four ties.
Murray-Boyles scored 12 points and Mack added 9 points before halftime, and South Carolina took the lead for good as Arkansas struggled to solve a 1-3-1 defensive zone in the latter minutes of the first half.
The Razorbacks committed 14 turnovers that South Carolina converted into 17 points.
If Arkansas does not play in a postseason tournament, the program will finish with a losing record for the first time since the Razorbacks went 14-18 during former coach John Pelphrey’s third season in 2009-10.
Fifth-year Arkansas coach Eric Musselman would also finish with a losing record for the first time in his nine college seasons.