NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It didn’t matter that South Carolina struggled to make three-pointers against the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team.
The No. 15 Gamecocks did their damage inside to beat Arkansas 80-66 on Thursday in a second-round SEC Tournament game at Bridgestone Arena and end the Razorbacks’ season.
South Carolina outscored Arkansas 52-38 on points in the paint and 19-6 on second-chance points thanks to 12 offensive rebounds to 4 for the Razorbacks.
“We didn’t guard the paint like you need to against a really good, talented team,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. “A team that’s ranked, a team that’s got a chance to play in Sweet 16s or Elite Eights or Final Fours.
“That’s how good they are. That’s how connected they are. That’s how well-coached they are.”
The Gamecocks scored on 14 layups and seven dunks.
“They do a good job of forcing the ball inside and they got some good looks for their bigs and their guards, too,” Arkansas junior guard Tramon Mark said. “They were attacking the rim and being aggressive. Props to them.”
South Carolina’s strong play inside offset its shooting 3 of 15 on three-pointers.
Collin Murray-Boyles, a 6-7 freshman, led South Carolina (26-6, 14-5) with 24 points, 7 rebounds and hit 11 of 15 shots and 2 of 3 free throws.
“My teammates really were getting [the ball] in the right spots, hitting me when they saw I had a good chance to get around the basket,” Murray-Boyles said. “Also Coach [Lamont Paris] was writing up these plays so that we can get open, have multiple options.”
Murray-Boyles came into the game averaging 10.3 points, but he has scored 12 or more in 10 of the last 11 — including 31 against Vanderbilt and 19 against Auburn and Mississippi State.
“He’s got an unbelievably high ceiling,” Paris said. “I don’t even think he’s close to it still.
“He continues to grow. Some of the shots he made today were off-balance, moving away from the basket. It takes incredible touch to finish some of those.
“Our team’s been winning a lot of games. He’s a key part to it on both sides.”
Gamecocks 6-8 senior forward B.J. Mack had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists. He hit 5 of 9 shots and 7 of 7 free throws.
“They’re a huge team, and they’re ranked 15th in the country for a reason,” Arkansas senior forward Makhi Mitchell said. “Huge credit to them, and their game plan.
“It just didn’t go our way today.”
The Razorbacks (16-17) are done for the season after making deep NCAA Tournament runs the previous three seasons, including Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022 and advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2023.
South Carolina (26-6) advanced to play No. 12 Auburn in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals today.
“Our bigs were scoring around the basket,” said Gamecocks senior point guard Ta’Lon Cooper, who had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. “The best basketball is inside-out basketball. I think that’s the mindset that we had.”
Senior guard Khalif Battle, who led the Razorbacks with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, praised the Gamecocks’ teamwork.
“They play together,” Battle said. “That was the difference in the game.
“I think we’re as talented as anybody in the country, but they just play together. They were a team out there.”
Arkansas shot 51.9% from the field (27 of 52), and shot 90% on free throws, but that total was 9 of 10.
It was the fewest free-throw attempts for the Razorbacks against an SEC opponent. The only game in which they shot fewer free throws was a 4-of-8 effort in their 69-66 victory over Lipscomb.
“We tried not to settle for threes, which we only took 13,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said of the Razorbacks shooting 3 of 13 from beyond the arc. “But the [14] turnovers we had, a lot to overcome.
“The field goal percentage for us … you think you’re right there.
“Difference for us offensively was the inability for us to draw fouls.”
Arkansas came into the game No. 2 nationally in free throws made per game (19) and attempted (26.5).
Battle hit 100 of 109 free throws the last nine games, including 13 of 14 in the Razorbacks’ 90-85 victory over Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. He was 5 of 5 on free throws Thursday.
“It’s tough, I mean, that’s part of our game plan,” Battle said of drawing fouls. “I thought we could have went to the basket a little better.
“The refs didn’t call it that way. Sometimes how the game goes.”
Mitchell, who had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, hit his only free throw attempt.
“It is what it is,” Mitchell said. “The whistle didn’t blow our way. When that happens, we’ve got to find another way to score.”
Arkansas took a 35-32 lead with 2:15 left in the first half on two free throws by Battle.
The Razorbacks then went 6:18 without scoring while the Gamecocks scored 16 consecutive points to move ahead 48-35 at the 16:43 mark of the second half.
During their scoring drought to end the first half and start the second half, the Razorbacks had nine possessions in which they were 0 of 5 from the field with four turnovers.
The Gamecocks’ 16-0 run included 12 points on dunks, layups and second chances.
“I just think they got hot and we couldn’t really recover from it at the beginning of the second half,” Mark said. “It just went their way.”
The Razorbacks closed within 53-47 on senior forward Jalen Graham’s rebound basket with 10:26 left, but South Carolina responded with an 11-2 run — including 7 points by Mack and 4 by Murray-Boyles — to push their lead to 64-49 with 7:08 left.
Arkansas didn’t pull closer than 14 points the rest of the game and trailed by as many as 21.
Graham, who didn’t play in the previous seven games, provided a lift off the bench with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes.
Mark, averaging a team-high 16.7 points, was held to a season-low 2 and hit 1 of 4 shots without a free throw attempt.
Sophomore forward Trevon Brazile scored the Razorbacks’ first six points by hitting a pair of three-pointers, but then had to go to the bench with 15:44 left in the first half after drawing his second foul.
Brazile didn’t play the rest of the half and scored his only points in the second half on two free throws.
Arkansas senior guard Davonte Davis added eight points.
The Gamecocks shot 52.9% from the field (32 of 61), hit 13 of 21 free throws and had 18 assists with 8 turnovers.
“I thought our guys had a really good effort from start to finish pretty much,” Paris said. “We had a couple lulls here and there.
“Just thought it was a tremendous effort the way we shared the ball, our overall energy and how we played.”