South Carolina tries to regroup against Arkansas
Seedings and projections don’t matter as much as simply playing well.
South Carolina has mostly played well this season. It needs to get back to that entering the most crucial time.
“We got to get that win at Arkansas,” Michael Carrera said after Thursday’s grueling loss to Georgia.
The Gamecocks have dropped four of six, and while they’re not in danger of playing themselves out of the NCAA tournament (at least by projections), they have taken a near-sure double-bye for the SEC tournament and cast it aside. USC can still get it, with a win over the Razorbacks on Saturday and either a LSU or Vanderbilt loss, but the situation isn’t as rosy as it was before the Georgia game.
For top-four consideration, it’s a must-win at the SEC’s most intimidating home-court environment, against the top 3-point team in the league. It doesn’t help that the Gamecocks are struggling trying to fix their rebounding and unable to hit the highest percentage shots.
Daunting, yes, but so was winning 23 of their first 30 games.
Players talked fundamentals and specific tweaks, while coach Frank Martin talked toughness.
“I couldn’t play a lick, but I’ll tell you what, I came up with every single one of them balls,” he said of Georgia winning the hustle plays. “Contact didn’t faze me.”
USC has won games at the end of the year over the past two seasons. The goal this year was to get that double-bye in the tournament so if it again won two games, it would be in the championship game, where spent legs would be trumped by the gravity of the moment.
The goal is still out there.
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SOUTH CAROLINA (23-7, 10-7) at ARKANSAS (16-14, 9-8)
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Ark.
TV: SEC Network
Tickets: Available at the box office
South Carolina’s probable starters: G Sindarius Thornwell 6-5 Jr. (12.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg); G Duane Notice 6-2 Jr. (11.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg); F Mindaugas Kacinas 6-7 Sr. (10.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg); F Michael Carrera 6-5 Sr. (14.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg); C Laimonas Chatkevicius 6-11 Sr. (9.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
Arkansas’ probable starters: G Jabril Durham 6-1 Sr. (6.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg); G Anthlon Bell 6-3 Sr. (15.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg); G Dusty Hannahs 6-3 Jr. (16.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg); F Keaton Miles 6-7 Sr. (3.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg); F Moses Kingsley 6-10 Jr. (16.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
Next game: The Gamecocks begin the SEC tournament at a time and date to be announced.
SEC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
Breaking down what can happen Saturday and how it would affect the Gamecocks.
WITH A WIN OVER ARKANSAS
USC would finish the league season 11-7. It would need an LSU loss to Kentucky OR a Vanderbilt loss to Texas A&M to earn a top-four seed.
If one team lost, the Gamecocks would be fourth. If both lost, the Gamecocks would be third.
WITH A LOSS TO ARKANSAS
USC would finish the league season 10-8. The Razorbacks would also finish 10-8 and would win the tiebreaker, leaving USC sixth.
Georgia plays Alabama. With a win, the Bulldogs would also win a tiebreaker over USC, leaving USC seventh.
Ole Miss plays Tennessee. With a win, the Rebels would lose a tiebreaker to USC, placing Ole Miss eighth.
This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 11:22 PM with the headline "South Carolina tries to regroup against Arkansas."