It didn’t take a road contest for the Arkansas Razorbacks to feel the sting of their first Southeastern Conference loss. The South Carolina Gamecocks cold-cocked the Hogs with outstanding guard play. The Gamecocks made nine steals and forced the Razorbacks into 19 turnovers to pull off a 70-66 victory. South Carolina scored 20 points off turnovers to the Hogs’ 10. The loss dropped the Razorbacks to 13-4 on the season and 2-1 in SEC play, while the Gamecocks improved to 9-8 on the season and 1-2 in league play. Arkansas trailed 33-32 at halftime, but regained the lead, 36-35, on two Sonny Weems free throws with 19: 06 left in the game. But South Carolina took a 45-44 lead with 14: 47 left in the game and extended the lead to 8 on several occasions, but never gave it back to the Hogs, despite a strong come-back attempt.

PLAY OF THE GAME After Arkansas’ Sonny Weems cut South Carolina’s lead to 66-64 with a deep 3-pointer with: 50. 4 to play, 5-9 South Carolina guard Devan Downey went to the free-throw line and downed two charity tosses with: 09. 5 to play to lock up the victory.

PLAYER OF THE GAME Devan Downey was the smallest player on the court in stature, but he was a big man in every other way. He led all scorers with 28 points and was nearly unstoppable no matter which Razorback guarded him.

Sonny Weems had arguably the best game of his career with 28 points on 11 of 19 shooting and 9 rebounds.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

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Once again, Patrick Beverley led the Hogs in rebounding with 12 boards, despite playing with a jaw that was dislocated in Sunday’s game against Alabama.

Dominique Archie grabbed 5 rebounds to lead the Gamecocks, whom the Hogs outrebounded 40-24. STAT OF THE GAME In an even-up basketball game, the Razorbacks’ loss to South Carolina can be traced to turnovers. The Hogs had 19 and South Carolina had 10. That gave the Gamecocks nine more opportunities. The Hogs also missed three of their last four free throws in the game, with two misses by Darian Townes and one by Steven Hill, despite shooting 68. 4 percent from the line (13 of 19 ).

UP NEXT The Razorbacks now have Georgia on their minds as they head to Athens to face the Bulldogs in a 6: 05 p. m. Saturday tilt that will be televised by FSN (Cox Cable 26 ). The Bulldogs defeated Alabama, 61-54, Wednesday to move to 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play. The Razorbacks have an open date next Wednesday before heading south for their annual visit to Baton Rouge, La., to face the LSU Tigers.