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Arkansas was asleep at the wheel Saturday against South Carolina, putting forth one of the worst first halves the program has ever had in the shot clock era.
After upsetting Mizzou and outlasting Texas in overtime, Arkansas looked as if it was playing its way off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament. But with 3 games still to play in the regular season (including Saturday), the work was not yet done. The Razorbacks (17-11, 6-9 SEC) couldn’t afford a slip-up.
Against a Gamecocks squad that has 1 previous win in 15 league games, the Razorbacks went into the halftime break trailing 32-14.
And, somehow, that margin doesn’t even do justice to how miserable the first 20 minutes were for John Calipari and his group. At one point Saturday afternoon, the official team account posted on social media a selection of photos with the caption, “There is definitely a game being played right now.”
Nothing else to say.
Arkansas made 1 of its first 17 shots. DJ Wagner knocked down a jumpshot with 16:54 to play for the team’s first points of the game. The Razorbacks didn’t score again for another 5 minutes.
They trailed 18-3 after nearly 13 minutes of game time. Free throws from Wagner jump-started a mini 6-1 run to get back within 10, but South Carolina answered that with an 8-0 run of its own. A 3-pointer from Morris Ugusuk with 2:05 to play put South Carolina up 20.
A pair of foul shots from Jonas Aidoo with 61 seconds remaining in the half ensured Arkansas would not match the mark for its lowest-scoring opening half in the shot clock era — 12 points against Nebraska in 1987. Still, the 14 points were the fewest ever in a first half by a Calipari-coached team.
The Razorbacks made just 3 of their 24 shot attempts (13%) and missed all 8 of their 3-pointers. They also had 9 turnovers compared to just 3 from South Carolina. The Gamecocks outscored the Razorbacks 20-6 in the paint in the first half.
Arkansas was clowned by media members and slammed by fans. Here’s some of the social reaction to the half.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
