Coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks (20-12, 8-10 SEC) won Game 1 of the SEC Tournament, 72-68, over the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena.
Unlike the Hoop Hogs’ last showing against South Carolina in the regular season, offense wasn’t an issue in the first 20 minutes. In fact, Arkansas’ 47 first-half points was nearly as many as they scored in the whole matchup against the Gamecocks (53 points) the first time.
The second half told a different story. After racking up a 20-point lead at one point, Arkansas went on an over nine minute drought without a field goal, which allowed South Carolina to bring the deficit within three points with 4:47 minutes left.
The lid finally came off the hoop for Arkansas at the 2:37 minute mark, when guard DJ Wagner hit a clutch triple to push the Hogs’ lead to 64-60. With 42 seconds left and the Hogs up two points, Johnell Davis came through with a bucket and Jonas Aidoo gathered the defensive rebound on the other end to secure the win.
A good chunk of the credit goes to Aidoo, who continued his stellar play with 14 points, 11 rebounds, one block and one steal. Leading the team in scoring was forward Trevon Brazile (16 points, seven rebounds), with Wagner (13 points, six assists) right behind.
As a team, the Razorbacks shot 25-of-56 from the field, 7-of-22 from beyond the arc and 15-of-16 from the charity stripe.
Below are social media reactions from Arkansas’ SEC Tournament win…
