COLUMBIA, S.C. -- In a game of big runs for both teams, Arkansas senior guard Dusty Hannahs put together a pretty impressive one by himself to help the Razorbacks beat No. 21 South Carolina 83-76 Wednesday night in Colonial Life Arena.
"Dusty played his butt off," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said.
After South Carolina had closed a 47-35 deficit to 55-54, Hannahs scored nine consecutive Arkansas points to push the Razorbacks' lead to 62-55.
South Carolina never was able to regain the lead after jumping ahead 19-5.
"As a senior, I've just become more aware of game situations," Hannahs said. "I was aware they were cutting the lead.
"I'm an aggressive player, and that's just when I turned on the switch and said I'm going to make plays. With how they play defense, you have to be aggressive."
South Carolina 6-5 senior Sindarious Thornwell -- a member of the SEC all-defensive team last season -- guarded the 6-3 Hannahs most of the game.
Hannahs finished with 20 points and hit 8 of 14 shots, including 4 of 7 three-pointers.
"He's good," Thornwell said. "He moves so much on offense. He's always moving, and they're always screening for him.
"He can shoot it from far but also play off the dribble. Usually shooters don't put it on the floor as much, but he's one of those guys, if he gets you running out there, he's good enough to get in there and finish with a pull-up or floater."
Arkansas senior guard Manny Watkins said he wasn't surprised Hannahs was able to get his shots against Thornwell.
"Dusty is fearless," Watkins said. "It doesn't matter who you put on him. You could put the NBA's defensive player of the year on him, and he still thinks he's going to be able to score."
Beard ill
Arkansas junior guard Anton Beard, who had started the past nine games and was averaging 23.1 minutes on the season, played just five minutes off the bench in the second half.
Coach Mike Anderson said Beard had been feeling ill the past two days.
"Anton was very sick," Anderson said. "I'm surprised he even went out there. That says a lot about him. His heart and his toughness and his love for his team."
Senior Manny Watkins started in Beard's place along with a lineup of Moses Kingsley, Jaylen Barford, Dusty Hannahs and Adrio Bailey. It was Arkansas' 11th different starting lineup this season.
Tied for fourth
Arkansas and Alabama remained tied for fourth in the SEC at 8-5. The Crimson Tide won 57-54 at Missouri on Wednesday night.
Barford big
Arkansas junior guard Jaylen Barford tied a season-high of 23 points, including 17 in the first half. He had six turnovers, but the Razorbacks wouldn't have won without his production.
"Jaylen was big for us," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Early on, he carried us. That's the beauty of our team, is that at different times, different guys step up and take over."
Five for the road
Arkansas improved to 5-2 in SEC road games this season and 7-2 in its past nine going back to last season.
The Razorbacks have won at Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, LSU and South Carolina this season and lost at Kentucky and Missouri. Arkansas won its last two SEC road games last season against Tennessee and Alabama.
Mike & Frank
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson improved to 8-7 against South Carolina Coach Frank Martin in games they've coached against each other in the Big 12 and SEC.
Anderson's Missouri teams and Martin's Kansas State teams were 4-4 against each other. Anderson's Razorbacks now have a 4-3 edge against Martin's Gamecocks.
Another big hole
Arkansas found itself behind by 10 or more points for the 11th time in the past 14 games when the Gamecocks jumped to a 19-5 lead, but it didn't faze the Razorbacks.
"Early on, South Carolina came out and you knew they were going to throw a haymaker at us, and they went up 14 points," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "But our guys have been in that situation before, and we know the game is 40 minutes and not 20 minutes."
The Razorbacks have overcome deficits of 12 or more points in five victories, including 13 at Tennessee, 12 at Texas A&M, 15 at Vanderbilt, and 14 at LSU and South Carolina.
Sports on 02/16/2017
