Hogs looking for revenge, Arkansas to play South Carolina in SEC Tournament
After a rollercoaster of a year, Arkansas basketball finished the regular season as a near lock for the NCAA Tournament. Only a few losses are holding the Hogs back, the most embarrassing being their loss to South Carolina. Now, they have the chance for revenge.
Arkansas has drawn the Gamecocks for the first game of the SEC Tournament. The last time the two teams met, the Razorbacks couldn’t buy a bucket, making only three in the first half and scoring the lowest in a half (14) since joining the SEC. USC had a 30-point lead at one point in the second half, but the Hogs managed to cut the lead to 19 by the end of the game.
What made it worse was that, essentially, only two players beat Arkansas. Gamecocks’ forward Nick Pringle had 18 points, while guard Collins Murry-Boyles had a career-high 35 points against the Hogs, combining for 53 of 72 points.
However, since the loss in Columbia, Arkansas has dropped 90-plus points in each of its final two games. Thankfully, as head coach John Calipari said after the game, it looks like South Carolina was just a dud, and Arkansas can prove it with a win on Wednesday at Noon.
The rest of the slate on Wednesday includes No. 13 Texas taking on Vanderbilt after the Razorbacks’ game, followed by No. 10 Mississippi State versus No. 15 LSU, and then No. 11 Georgia against No. 14 Oklahoma after that. If Arkansas wins its first game, they’ll have to play No. 8 Ole Miss, then No. 1 Auburn before meeting the rest of the field.
Final regular season SEC basketball Standings
- Auburn
- Florida
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Ole Miss
- Arkansas
- Mississippi State
- Georgia
- Vanderbilt
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- South Carolina
