Arkansas vs. Florida Recap and South Carolina Preview: Don't Say It

It wasn't a game Arkansas had to have, but it sure feels rough to lose it like that. Arkansas got outplayed for the majority of the game, but roared back after Bobby Portis put the team on his back and carried it to the finish line. Arkansas led 56-55 with under five seconds left when the tables were turned on baseline referee John Hampton. The insurance salesman from Lexington, Ky. (who played baseball at UK when Florida coach Billy Donovan was there), was the one that was sold a load of crap by Michael Frazier, calling a foul on Alandise Harris despite negligible contact and a clean block.

That's the second straight road game that a overzealous referee has made a game-changing call. Mizzou's Wes Clark let the Hogs off the hook the first time, but once again, America discovers that there is no justice in the state of Florida.

Arkansas lost the floor percentage, falling to 0-5 when not winning it and 16-0 when winning it, although if the final atrocious call hadn't happened, Arkansas would have still lost the floor percentage battle but won the game. Arkansas outshot Florida, but lost the offensive rebounding and turnover battles, two things that should not ever happen.

Beard played well, although he disappeared for most of the second half before re-emerging in the final seconds. Arkansas' primary offensive problem was a bad game from Qualls, along with horrendous performances by Harris and Williams. Harris deserves high praise for his efforts in road wins over Georgia and Mizzou, but he took a big step back with six turnovers. Portis was the only offensive player that did well.

The Hogs aren't hurt too badly, though. Home games against South Carolina and Mississippi State should be wins, and a road game against Auburn is very winnable.

South Carolina preview

The Gamecocks have been up-and-down. They picked off Alabama and Georgia in Columbia and upset Iowa State on a neutral floor in Brooklyn. At 2-6 in conference play and with non-conference losses to Charlotte and Akron, they'll have to win the SEC tournament to have a shot at the Big Dance.

South Carolina is the antithesis of Arkansas. A slow-moving team that can't shoot, the Gamecocks are very good in their halfcourt defense but very bad at everything else. They have two big Lithuanians: Chatkevicius and Kacinas. College teams tend to recruit Eastern Europeans for defense and rebounding (Georgia's Nemanja Djurisic is from Montenegro). They are slower guys who are excellent defenders. They tend to draw a ton of fouls and rarely are called for fouls. Case in point: against Georgia this season, the Hogs shot only 13 free throws and Djurisic was whistled for zero fouls. The most egregious example of this was last year's SEC tournament loss to these Gamecocks: Arkansas was whistled for an astonishing 28 fouls leading to 41 Gamecock free throws, while Chatkevicius and Kacinas were called for a combined one foul.

This generous officiating hasn't extended to true road games, however, and that's a big reason South Carolina is 1-3 on the road, with the only win coming against Marshall (RPI: 259th), a team you schedule a road game against so you can say you won a road game.

Finally, similar to Ole Miss and Georgia, the Gamecocks tend to lean on their guards for scoring and their forwards for defense. Rebounding is a team effort, as Thornwell, a combo guard, leads the team.

The Gamecocks are very good in halfcourt defense. Arkansas struggled with Florida, also very good, but that was on the road.

South Carolina hangs its hat on field goal defense. This is another example of a game Arkansas has to win by getting up more shots. Chatkevicius and Kacinas, along with Henry and Carrera, are very good and stopping shots inside the arc. Arkansas' three-point shooting continues to free fall, dropping 27 spots after only making three against Florida.

More resistance is encountered in the ballhandling department. Arkansas has struggled mightily with teams that can force turnovers, giving it away 18, 18, and 16 times in two games with Tennessee and one with Florida, the only real turnover-forcing teams on the Hog schedule so far.

Arkansas' defense has shown massive improvement over the last couple of games, and has the advantage here. The Gamecocks struggled to score.

Here's why. South Carolina is an atrocious shooting team, particularly from beyond the arc. Arkansas should be able to limit points from three-pointers and slow down inside scoring.

Here's Arkansas' best chance to break this game open. The Gamecocks turn it over frequently and don't respond well to the press. Arkansas has not done as good a job of forcing turnovers in recent games, but should get back on track on Tuesday.

Carolina offsets its awful shooting (and reinforces its great defense) by being a sound rebounding team. Hog fans have to worry about this turning into an ugly game where South Carolina keeps it close by constantly rebounding its own misses to spoil any Hog momentum.

After the absolutely ridiculous 25 to 7 free throw disparity against Florida, I'm done posting the foul charts for road games, because college basketball referees just call the games however they feel like, regardless of any relationship to reality. Home games have continued to follow a basic pattern, though. Both sides are pushes: Arkansas doesn't draw many fouls and South Carolina commits a ton, while Arkansas rarely commits fouls and South Carolina draws them pretty well.

Keys to the Game

1. Box out. South Carolina's best chance to overcome bad shooting is to keep getting offensive rebounds. More important than Arkansas getting offensive rebounds is making sure the Gamecocks don't.
2. Turn this into a full-court game. South Carolina plays at an average pace, faster than the SEC average, but not too fast. They turn it over and get out of position when made to hurry up, and Arkansas' athleticism and depth gives the Hogs a major advantage in a fast game.
3. Someone please make a three pointer. After a 0-of-4 shooting performance in a game where his shooting was desperately needed, it may be time to give up on Anthlon Bell being a consistent offensive contributor. He's always good for an Indiana State-like outburst every now and then, but he's a career 33 percent three-point shooter. Expect Anton Beard to take his minutes going forward. Michael Qualls has been in a major funk since his 30-point outburst against Alabama, and he, Beard, and Rashad Madden are the best opportunities to break out from beyond the arc.