#12/13 Arkansas Extends Streak to 10; Gets Win 20

Mike Cawood March 2, 2021

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Three Razorbacks scored 20-plus points – led by a game-high 28 by Moses Moody – to give #12/13 Arkansas a 101-73 victory over South Carolina Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena.

Arkansas (20-5, 12-4 SEC) clinches the #2 seed at next week’s SEC Tournament.

Win Facts:

The win was the Razorbacks’ 10th straight SEC victory.
Arkansas has also won four straight SEC road games for the first time since 1995.
By scoring over 100 points, Arkansas cracked the century mark in an SEC for the first time since defeating Auburn 101-87 on Feb. 10, 2015.
The 101 points tie for 16th-most in an SEC game and ties for fifth-most in an SEC road game.
The 28-point win is the 11th-biggest margin of victory in an SEC game, the third-largest in an SEC road game and the 22nd-largest in a road game ever.
For head coach Eric Musselman, he won his 20th game of the season and 150th of his career (in his 201st career game). Musselman has won at least 20 games in each of his six years as a collegiate head coach. He is the only Razorback head coach to win at least 20 games in each of his first two years.
Arkansas’ 12 SEC wins are the program’s best since going 12-6 in the 2016-17 season.

Career Highs / Season Highs / Record Set:

Moses Moody set the Arkansas freshman record for free throws made now with 120.
Moses Moody tied his career high with 28 points, tied his career high with 10 field goals made and tied his career high with four 3-pointers made.
Justin Smith tied his season high with 22 points, which is his best in an SEC game, and he tied a career high with six free throws made. His eight field goals made were his best in an SEC game.
Desi Sills tied his career high with five 3-pointers made.
JD Notae scored 21 points to tie his best performance in an SEC game and his five assists are his best performance in an SEC game. With 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals, he became the first Razorbacks to have at least 20-5-5-5 in a game since Kareem Reid versus Louisville n Dec. 9, 1997. (HogStats.com)
Davonte Davis tied his career high with eight rebounds.
This is the first time ever an Arkansas team shot at least 60% from 2-point range (64.7%), 45% from 3-pont range (45.5%) and 90% from the free throw line (92.3%).

Up next, Arkansas closes the regular season with a home game versus Texas A&M on Saturday (Mar. 6). Tipoff is set for 4:00 pm (CT) and the game will be televised on SEC Network.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas 49 – South Carolina 32

Arkansas scored first and led 7-5 at the first media timeout despite four early turnovers (15:14).
Four Razorbacks hit 3-pointers (on nine attempts) and the Hogs led 20-16 at the second media timeout (10:41).
Arkansas was shooting 50 percent from the field and 3-point range and kept USC to just 29.2 percent but only led by six (26-20) at 7:48.
Two triples by Desi Sills and one by Moses Moody led a 12-5 charge and a 38-25 lead at the final media timeout (3:54).
Desi Sills made his first four shots – all 3-pointers – and finished the half 4-of-5.
Arkansas shot over 50 percent from the field (54.5%). Arkansas has shot over 50% in a half in five straight games – 59.3% in 2nd half at Mizzou, 51.1% in 1st half vs Florida, 52% in 1st half vs Alabama and 55.2% in 2nd half vs LSU.
Arkansas made 10 2-pointers (20 attempts). It marks the fifth time Arkansas has made double-digit 3-pointers in a game this season and the most since making 12 in the Georgia game (Jan. 9).
Moses Moody led Arkansas with 17 first-half points, making 7-of-11 from the field and three 3-pointers.
Arkansas had four early turnovers but just six for the half.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas 52 – South Carolina 41

Neither team took control through the first two timeouts. South Carolina out-scored the Hogs 9-6 through 8-plus minutes but Arkansas lead by 15 (63-48).
Arkansas made 5-of-6 from the field to push its lead to 23 (73-20) to for a USC timeout at 8:47.
From that point, Arkansas went on a 20-6 run to open up a 29-point lead (83-54) with 6:15 left. JD Notae scored six in the run.
Arkansas shot 55.9% from the field in the second half and were a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line.
Justin Smith scored 13 of his 22 in the second half while Moses Moody had 11 in the second half.
JD Notae also had 13 in the second half, making 6-of-9 shots from the field, with three of his five steals.

GAME NOTES

Arkansas is 400-114 when playing as a ranked team. Arkansas is 20-8 when playing as the #12 ranked team. This was Arkansas’ first game as the #12 team since Nov. 18, 1998. This was Arkansas’ first time playing as a top 15 team since Nov. 2000.
Arkansas snaps a two-game losing streak to South Carolina. The Razorbacks are now 21-15 all-time versus the Gamecocks and 7-8 versus USC in Columbia.
Coach Mus now has at least one win over every SEC team.
The second-place finish is the best for the Razorbacks 2014-15. This year and 2014-15 are the only two times Arkansas finished second since the league did away with divisional play starting in 2011-12.
Arkansas has scored 80-plus in five SEC road games this year (and is 5-0 in such games). It is the most 80-plus scoring games in SEC road games in a season since doing is six times in 1994-95 (5-1 record).
Arkansas defense has been excellent the last four games, holding opponents to:
– 69.5 ppg / 38.1 FG% / 28.6 3PT% / while forcing 13.5 turnovers and blocking 6.5 shots

Arkansas has shot over 43 percent from the field in 10 of its last 11 games and combined to shoot 48.1% (299-622) from the field in those 10 games.
Arkansas has won by double digits in 16 of its 20 wins.
Arkansas has score 90-plus six times this season, including four of its SEC wins.
Arkansas scored 52 second-half points. It marked the seven times this season. Arkansas scored 49 points in the first half. Overall, Arkansas has scored at least 40 points in a half 48 times in 24 games.
Arkansas’ starting lineup was Jalen Tate (G) – Davonte Davis (G) – Moses Moody (G) – Justin Smith (F) – Connor Vanover (F) for the seventh consecutive game. The lineup is 7-0.
South Carolina won the opening tip. Arkansas is 8-3 when the opponent controls the tip.
Moses Moody scored the game’s first points, a jumper at the right block at 19:20. Arkansas is 15-3 when scoring first.
JD Notae was the first sub for Arkansas for a team-best 10th time. Arkansas is 9-1 when Notae is the first sub.
Arkansas’ 55.2 F% is the team’s third-best this season and ties for fourth-best in the Musselman era.
The 15 3-pointers made are the second-most by the Hogs in the Musselman era (Arkansas made 20 in the season-opener versus Mississippi Valley State) and ties for third-most by a Musselman-coached collegiate team.
Connor Vanover had four blocked shots versus South Carolina, and he has 25 over the last nine games (2. 8 avg.)
Desi Sills made four 3-pointers in a road win versus Auburn to open SEC play. He only made six 3-pointers over his next 15 games before tying his career high by making five tonight.
Moses Moody (4-of-4 at the free throw line) set an Arkansas freshman record for free throws made now with at 120. Kareem Reid held the mark with 116 in 1995-96.
Abayomi “Baybe” Iyiola played in his first game as a Razorback and he pulled down a rebound in his 1:35 played. He sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules and missed the first 24 games this year after having knee surgery last summer.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.