When Arkansas hosts South Carolina on Tuesday, the Razorbacks will be looking to continue the run they had on Saturday.
With coach Eric Musselman out due to shoulder surgery, Arkansas (12-5, 2-3 SEC) finished off its game at LSU on a 17-2 run in the final nine minutes, racing away to a 65-58 upset of the then-No. 12 Tigers.
Acting coach Keith Smart, who is leading the team in place of Musselman, said he had to calm down the Razorbacks after they went four minutes without a basket.
“When I called that timeout, I just told the guys to breathe,” said Smart, whose squad trailed by eight with nine minutes left. “Forget about what just happened and breathe. That really helped.
“Certain guys were going to make a big play or get a big rebound.”
One of those big players was Davonte Davis, who was fouled on a breakaway dunk, smacked face-first onto the floor and lost a tooth — which he promptly caught as it skittered on the hardwood.
In 33 minutes, Davis finished with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Against Florida in a 71-63 home defeat, South Carolina (10-6, 1-3) lacked aggression at the start and took too many bad shots, according to Gamecocks coach Frank Martin.
Colin Castleton — the Gators’ 6-foot-11 big man — stayed out of foul trouble and matched a career-high with eight blocked shots.
“When we’re in the open court and have a chance to go to the rim, we don’t (get aggressive),” Martin said. “Then we’re in half-court basketball and Castleton’s standing under the rim, these guards want to go in and shoot finger-rolls into his armpits.
“People think bad shots are step-back 3s, (but) when you drive the ball and you’re a non-dunker and the 7-footer is standing under the net waiting for you and you try to shoot it over him, that’s a bad shot.”
Erik Stevenson scored 10 points, including the 1,000th of his career in the second half. The sharpshooter has 1,006 points in 110 games during stints at Wichita State, Washington and South Carolina.
–Field Level Media