Arkansas Razorbacks (19-12) vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (18-13)
March 14, 2024 3:30 pm EDT
The Line: South Carolina Gamecocks -4.5 ; Over/Under:
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The Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks meet Thursday in SEC Tournament college basketball action from Bridgestone Arena. Let’s get into our Arkansas vs South Carolina prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks were 9-4 at the end of the 2023 calendar year but they’ve only been able to win consecutive games once since then. Arkansas finished off the regular season with a 3-3 stretch, beating Texas A&M, Missouri and LSU with losses to Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Alabama otherwise.
Matched up against Vanderbilt on Wednesday in tournament action, the Razorbacks had a close call. Arkansas came back from a 41-27 halftime deficit to force overtime and eventually won 90-85. Khalif Battle was the top team scorer with his 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.
South Carolina Gamecocks
Over on the Gamecocks’ side, they started out on a 21-3 stretch this year following a seven-game win streak in January/February. After losses to Auburn and LSU, South Carolina took out Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Florida in the next trio. Since then it’s been a loss to Tennessee and a win over Mississippi State.
The Gamecocks took out Mississippi State in their last outing, but it wasn’t easy. South Carolina scored 38 points in the first half, 39 in the second and 16 in overtime for a 93-89 result. Tops in scoring was BJ Mack with his 25 points, two rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes.
ANDREW’S FREE ARKANSAS VS SOUTH CAROLINA PREDICTION
I might take a stab on Arkansas. Probably staying away from this one, though. The Razorbacks had a slow start against a struggling Vanderbilt team in their tournament game Wednesday and barely escaped with a W. The defense wasn’t great in that one (52.4 percent shooting allowed), but Arkansas lived to fight again.
As for South Carolina, they’ve been a bit precarious over their last couple of outings. In the Mississippi State matchup, the Gamecocks shot well (48.5 percent) with 20 assists but also gave up 50 percent shooting on the other side. In the last meeting between these teams back on January 20, South Carolina posted a 77-64 road win. Arkansas had a pretty miserable offensive game in that matchup (37.1 percent shooting) so they’ll need a quality bounce-back effort here in order to compete. I’m not sure that they’ll get it, so I’ll probably avoid this matchup.
