Razorbacks Looking to Stack Wins Against South Carolina

Eric Musselman's Hogs have to contend with improved Gamecocks on Saturday

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Jan 19, 2024 4:37 PM EST

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With its first SEC win behind them Arkansas now turns its attention to the South Carolina Gamecocks. A year ago the Gamecocks were squarely in the cellar of the SEC finishing 4-14 in conference play and 11-21 overall.

Fast-forward to this season, South Carolina has already eclipsed its win total from a year ago and is sitting at 14-3. The two teams sit on polar opposite ends of the spectrum for scoring defense. The Razorbacks rank last in the SEC in scoring defense (77.6) while the Gamecocks rank first (64.6) More importantly, the Gamecocks have the cohesion that coach Eric Musselman is still looking for with his unit.

"They’re connected," Musselman said. "You watch them play and they’re connected. They play more together. It looks like there’s an agenda with them this year and that agenda is to win. I’m not so sure you felt that way last [year]. It just kinda happens. I think their coaching staff has done not a good job but a phenomenal job. The culture looks very, very strong this year."

Razorbacks Eric Musselman on sidelines against Texas A&M

The Gamecocks also already have its starting five figured out rolling out mostly the same lineup to start the year with all five players with more than 15 starts, and only seven different players recording a start. By contrast, Arkansas has had 11 different players start at least one game and only two make 15+ starts (Davonte "Devo" Davis and Trevon Brazile).

"We can’t keep playing 11, 12 guys," Musselman said. "When we do that the game is not in our favor. We’ve historically been a program that’s played seven or eight guys. We’re trying to pare the rotation down."

It's not just the cohesion that Musselman must contend with the backcourt duo of Ta'lon Cooper and Meechie Johnson. Johnson currently ranks seventh in the SEC in points per game (17.3). The Gamecocks will be without its top three-point threat Myles Stute due to a shoulder injury.

"They have a really good backcourt," Musselman said. "Meechie Johnson’s playing as good as anybody, and obviously [Ta’Lon] Cooper, a transfer from Minnesota, and Myles Stute at the 3 spot, B.J. Mack. So there’s a lot of things we’ve got to get ready for between now and Saturday."

The game tips off 12 p.m. Jan. 20 inside Bud Walton Arena. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network and fuboTV .