Razorbacks 16-0 on home court
South Carolina suffered another setback in the season last Thursday, falling to Tennessee 69-57. Coming off a 34-point blowout to Kentucky, USC was looking to get back on track Wednesday against a Tennessee team with a shooting average below 45 percent. However, Tennessee shot 50 percent from the field and made 10 of 20 3-pointers to send the Gamecocks to 1-8 in the SEC heading into Saturday's contest at Arkansas.
"They did a really good job of executing offensively," said South Carolina coach Darrin Horn. "For a stretch of about 16 minutes there, I felt we did a really good job defensively. Then we gave up that barrage of 3s at the end of the half, and that really changed the game. When you get down by double figures, that's hard to come back in this league."
The Gamecocks nearly pulled off the comeback, coming within three points at 58-55 with four minutes to play in the second half. However, the Volunteers pulled together and shut the door on the Gamecocks. Carolina shot just 34 percent from the floor, and sophomore forward Damontre Harris once again ran into foul trouble, holding him to just 21 minutes on the floor.
Sophomore guard Bruce Ellington led the Gamecocks with 12 points and freshman guard Damien Leonard scored 11 on three of four 3-point shots.
Although USC limited Tennessee to just 38 shots, and just 15 in the second half, the Vols made the most of the shots they were able to take.
"There were some good things that we did tonight," Horn said. "We had 12 assists on 19 baskets and took care of the basketball against one of the top two or three defensive teams in our league statistically. But the bottom line is that we did not finish the first half defensively and gave up too many easy ones down the stretch to be able to overcome it."
Next up for the Gamecocks is a road game against Arkansas. The Razorbacks were toasted Thursday by Georgia, which was just 1-7 in the league before the game. The problem for USC, though, is that it will have to play at Arkansas where the Hogs are 16-0 for the season.
Overall, Arkansas is 16-7, 4-4 in the SEC. They are led by their star forward, junior Marshawn Powell, who averages 19.5 points per game. They have three other players who score in double figures, with 73.5 points per game.
On the other hand, Carolina is second-to-last in the SEC in scoring at 62.3 points per game, and at times, the matchup zones have left opponents wide open from behind the arc.
Against Tennessee, Horn stressed that the Gamecocks needed to stop the Vols from making 3-pointers because "they have been a different team when they have made them ... Those shots really got them going offensively."
Tennessee made seven first-half 3-pointers, in fact. Carolina hopes to improve that statistic against an Arkansas team that is in the middle of the league in most offensive categories.