Gamecocks focused on themselves ahead of rematch with Razorbacks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas basketball is set for a rematch with South Carolina on Thursday at the SEC Tournament.

The 12-seed Razorbacks on Wednesday night beat 13-seed Vanderbilt 90-85 in overtime in Bridgestone Arena to extend their season at least one more day. Khalif Battle led the way with 24 points in the comeback win.

Makhi Mitchell and Tramon Mark each added 18 points.

Tipoff on Thursday is set for approximately 2:30 p.m. Central on SEC Network.

The Gamecocks beat Arkansas 77-64 on Jan. 20 in Fayetteville in the teams’ only regular-season meeting. They led by as many as 19 points in the second half.

South Carolina coach Lamont Paris, the SEC coach of the year, said Wednesday the bulk of his focus is on his team.

“I thought we played well in that first game,” Paris said. “I thought we got off to a good start and we continued it pretty much throughout the game. I think we led almost the entire game, if not the entire game. They’re really talented.

“You get so caught up in watching and preparing for these other games that I haven’t done a lot of Arkansas-related stuff until just recently. I’ve done a little bit in terms of watching our last game with them…then trying to just prepare our team. We spend most of our time on our own stuff.

“I’ve always said that 90% of our game plan is based on what we do, then that other 10% that relates to them, 90% of that has to do with personnel. The rest is a couple of wrinkles, actions that a team likes. I remember that we played well that [first] game.”

Against Arkansas, Gamecocks forward BJ Mack starred with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. The Wofford transfer knocked down 3 of 4 three-point attempts.

He had been 3 of 18 in the team’s previous 4 games.

“What I really remember is me coming out of a shooting slump,” Mack said. “…[The Razorbacks] had, like, a lot of controversy going on with them and couldn’t figure it out. They were not on a good winning streak, but now they’ve kind of figured it out.”

Other key contributors for South Carolina in its win over Arkansas were Ta’Lon Cooper (11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists), Meechie Johnson (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Collin Murray-Boyles (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block).

“Arkansas has definitely grown since then,” Johnson said. “They played pretty well, I’d say, against Alabama a couple days ago. The talent is there for them.”

Tramon Mark (18) was the lone Razorback to score in double figures on the Gamecocks. El Ellis added nine points, and Devo Davis and Jeremiah Davenport pitched in eight each.

Khalif Battle and Makhi Mitchell, Arkansas’ top players of late, combined for seven points and 10 minutes. The Razorbacks shot 37.1% as a team.

“[I remember] how good we were defensively,” Cooper said. “We held their best player to [18] points, which is pretty good with how he was scoring in the past. I feel like defensively we were amazing that game.”