Rapid Rundown: South Carolina ends Arkansas’ run in Nashville

A frustrating season for Arkansas men’s basketball has officially come to an end as the Razorbacks fell to South Carolina at the SEC Tournament in Nashville on Thursday, 80-66.

Arkansas finishes the season 16-17 overall, under .500 for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign. It is the first time in Eric Musselman’s tenure as a college head coach one of his teams has won fewer than 20 games.

Here’s a rapid rundown of how it all unfolded Thursday at Bridgestone Arena:

Hogs start hot, ‘Cocks respond with frosh flurry

Arkansas got things started with back-to-back threes from Trevon Brazile followed by a pair of baskets from Khalif Battle to jump out to an 11-5 lead at the first media timeout.

South Carolina star freshman Collin Murray-Boyles took matters into his own hands with a flurry of baskets around the rim to pull the Gamecocks within 15-14 at the next break with 11:32 to go in the half.

The 6-7, 230-pound forward scored nine of South Carolina’s first 15 points.

Welcome back, Jalen Graham

A Myles Stute three gave the Gamecocks their first lead, but a jump-hook from Jalen Graham — appearing in his first game since Valentine’s Day — and deep three by Battle put the Hogs back on top 20-19 midway through the opening frame.

Graham continued to make his mark offensively with more fancy footwork and a pair of finishes in the paint that send the Razorbacks to the under-4 timeout in a dogfight with South Carolina, trailing 29-28.

Battle of the bigs inside

Makhi Mitchell made his mark over the next segment with a tough three-point play followed by a mismatch basket at the rim on the ensuing possession.

South Carolina big man — and noted Hog-killer Josh Gray — responded with back-to-back dunks to give the Gamecocks a one-point lead going into the final minute.

More maddening late-half hiccups

Arkansas has struggled mightily all season executing in late-half scenarios, and Thursday was another prime example.

The Razorbacks had possession with 34 seconds on the clock and was unable to get a shot attempt off.

To add insult to injury, Arkansas promptly allowed South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson to go coast to coast in 3.9 seconds for a buzzer-beating layup to send the Gamecocks to the break with a 38-35 lead.

Gamecocks land haymaker

The frustrating end to the first half carried over after the break for the Razorbacks as South Carolina was the aggressor right from the start.

The Gamecocks outworked Arkansas on both ends of the floor and extended its lead to 46-35 with an emphatic 8-0 run that featured a way-too-easy transition layup and two second-chance baskets after offensive layups that forced Eric Musselman into a timeout less than three minutes into the half.

Hogs hang around over next stretch

It felt like the wheels were on the verge of falling off, but Arkansas was able to stabilize and make a small dent in the deficit over the next several minutes of action.

Makhi Mitchell scored six of Arkansas’ next 10 points and the defense strung together three minutes worth of stops that sent the Razorbacks into a break with 11:15 to play within striking distance at 53-45.

Razorbacks run out of gas

A mixture of Day 2 fatigue and the realization the end was near started to sink in for Arkansas over the next five minutes as the body language dipped, efford dropped off and South Carolina began to pull away.

Murray-Boyles and BJ Mack continued to put on a clinic in the front court with 13 of the next 17 points for South Carolina as its lead ballooned to 74-54 by the under-4 timeout en route to the comfortable win.