Arkansas Regains Its Edge in Convincing Victory Against South Carolina

Arkansas showed no interest in letting last weekend’s disappointment linger. No. 17 Arkansas responded decisively Wednesday night, bouncing back from a blowout loss with a commanding 108-74 victory over South Carolina at Bud Walton Arena. The win ranked as the sixth-highest scoring performance in program history. Arkansas carried a 50-38 lead into halftime and had built an advantage of as many as 16 points in the first half, though a brief late lull allowed the Gamecocks to regain some momentum before the break. Even so, the Razorbacks firmly took control after intermission.

The performance lifted Arkansas into third place in the 2025-26 SEC standings at 3-1 and improved the Razorbacks’ overall record to 13-4.

Early Momentum and Defensive Pressure

Arkansas won the opening tip, and Darius Acuff Jr. quickly found Pringle coming off a screen for an easy dunk. After Strong missed a three-pointer, Stute secured the rebound and converted the putback. The Razorbacks continued to establish Pringle inside, drawing fouls and forcing South Carolina to adjust defensively.

Johnson answered with a layup over Brazile, but Acuff responded with a smooth midrange jumper. Brief defensive lapses allowed Sharavjamts to connect from three, though Arkansas quickly regained its footing.

Richmond provided an early spark with consecutive hustle plays that disrupted South Carolina possessions and created transition opportunities. He later stripped Assemian, leading to an easy transition layup for Acuff on a feed from Wagner.

Johnson converted a jumper while being fouled on a play ruled a goaltend. Arkansas head coach John Calipari challenged the call, but it was upheld, costing the Razorbacks their challenge and allowing Johnson to complete the three-point play to tie the game at 10-10.

Arkansas answered with a quick run. Pringle scored inside, Brazile knocked down a pull-up three, and a free throw extended the surge. Walker briefly slowed the momentum with a layup, but Acuff responded with a strong drive and an alley-oop pass to Karter Knox.

On the defensive end, Arkansas continued to apply pressure. Knox blocked a shot from Ellis, and Ewin stole the ball from Kobe Knox and finished with a slam. South Carolina was forced to call a timeout trailing 20-12.

Building the Lead Before Halftime

Ewin continued to fuel the offense, pushing the Arkansas lead into double figures. Sharavjamts briefly halted a 14-2 run by converting a pair of free throws, but Ewin answered with a follow slam.

Thomas knocked down a three after Strong scored inside, then later connected with Pringle on an alley-oop as Pringle rolled hard to the basket.

Kobe Knox knocked down an open three-pointer to trim the margin to 31-21 heading into the under-eight timeout. Strong followed by igniting a brief South Carolina run, scoring five straight points to cut the deficit to five and force a timeout from Calipari.

Out of the break, Thomas responded with another three-pointer. Richmond followed with a steal, and Acuff’s missed layup was tipped in by Ewin to make it 37-36. Richmond later finished a fast-break layup while being fouled and converted the free throw, extending the Arkansas lead to 14.

Arkansas built a 44-28 advantage before a series of miscues allowed South Carolina to close the gap. Johnson scored quickly, and after another turnover, Acuff pushed the tempo and followed his own miss to make it 46-30.

Johnson hit a three, Ewin answered inside, and after several missed attempts on both ends, Johnson drained another three to pull the Gamecocks within 48-38. Richmond responded defensively by blocking Johnson’s shot, leading to an Acuff dunk that sent Arkansas into halftime with a 50-38 lead.

Razorbacks Dominate After the Break

Arkansas opened the second half with the same sharp execution it showed early. Acuff once again found Pringle for a dunk, followed by back-to-back baskets from Wagner. Acuff then scored on a leaning jumper while drawing a foul and completed the three-point play to give Arkansas a 57-43 advantage.

Strong answered with a jumper, but Arkansas responded immediately. Acuff located Thomas for a quick-release three, and moments later Thomas forced a turnover and finished a double-clutch finger roll in transition.

The Razorbacks carried a commanding 62-45 lead into the under-16 timeout.

What followed was the decisive stretch of the game. Arkansas outscored South Carolina 21-7 over the next 4:52, ballooning the margin to 81-52 and briefly extending it to 31 points.

Wagner punctuated the run with a highlight dunk over Essandoko. Thomas knocked down two more three-pointers, Ewin converted at the line before scoring through traffic, and Knox capped the sequence with an acrobatic reverse layup after a missed three by Ellis.

By the under-eight timeout, Arkansas held a 93-60 lead and was shooting 16 of 19 from the field in the second half.

Closing It Out

After the final media timeout, Arkansas opened with a 6-0 run. Wagner hit a three to push the Razorbacks past 100 points, followed by back-to-back layups before lobbing a pass off the glass to Pringle for a dunk.

Arkansas led 108-65 at the final media timeout with 2:18 remaining. A fresh lineup featuring Sealy, Karuletwa, Brown, Kelley, and Dzafic closed out the rout.

Six Razorbacks finished in double figures. Freshman guard Meleek Thomas led the way with 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including a perfect 5 of 5 from three-point range. Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. and senior forward Malique Ewin each scored 18 points.

Acuff shot 7 of 13 from the field, recorded a career-high 13 assists, and continued directing the offense. Ewin finished 8 of 10 from the floor.

For South Carolina, redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson led the way with 29 points, shooting 9 of 13 from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox finished with nine points.

Arkansas shot 43 of 73 from the field for 58.9 percent and went 8 of 21 from three-point range. South Carolina finished 28 of 63 overall and 7 of 30 from long distance. The Razorbacks held a 36-33 edge on the glass, dominated points in the paint by a 66-36 margin, and recorded a 27-13 advantage in assists.

Arkansas also controlled the turnover battle, forcing 16 turnovers while committing just four. That disparity translated into a decisive 22-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Postgame Reaction

Arkansas head coach John Calipari praised his team’s execution after the game.

“Twenty-seven assists and four turnovers in a league game,” Calipari said. “Ridiculous. The stuff we emphasized, they did. Now what we did offensively, that’s how we want to play. Not scoring 108, but the spacing, the passing, the movement, the cutting. We kind of got away from that and it ended up being one action.”

Thomas credited Acuff for creating opportunities.

“It helps more than you can imagine when you’ve got a point guard that puts so much pressure on the defense, that makes the ones who guard me and my teammates collapse,” Thomas said. “Then it’s just easy, and it’s special to be able to catch and shoot, and he did a great job dishing the ball out tonight.”

Acuff was recently named SEC Freshman of the Week for the fifth consecutive time after averaging 22.5 points and five assists on 41.2 percent shooting in two games last week. He became the first player in SEC history to win the award five straight weeks and the 13th player ever to receive it five times.

South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris also acknowledged Acuff’s impact.

“We had another guard do that against us earlier this year,” Paris said. “It’s just so hard to say anything about the stats in this game. He’s so talented. The one thing I will say about him, when I watch him, and I watched him all the games that they played, in the most positive way that I could say it, I feel like he grew up playing on the playground. Not a lot of guys in 2026 I would say that about, but I feel like this guy played on the playground.”

Up Next on the Schedule

The win provided an important response for Arkansas following a 95-73 loss to Auburn on Saturday at Neville Arena. The Razorbacks will head back on the road Saturday to face No. 21 Georgia, with tipoff set for 3 p.m. CST on ESPN2.