By PETE IACOBELLI
The Associated Press
COLOMBIA – Arkansas is playing its best at the right time this season. Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman is unsure of where this leads, but he is enjoying every successful performance on his team.
Moses Moody drew his career high with 28 points and the 12th-place Razorbacks won their tenth consecutive round at the Southeast Conference with a 101-73 victory over South Carolina on Tuesday night.
Arkansas had the most 3 points in the SEC game this season, with 15 and equaled the program’s 10-game winning streak in the 1994 national champions league.
“I thought tonight was as good as any game we’ve played throughout the year,” said Musselman.
Is there more ahead? Musselman is not looking beyond the end of the regular season on Saturday against Texas A&M.
But senior Desi Sills believes that bigger things are ahead for this team.
“The way we are playing now, we can do whatever we want,” he said.
Moody said the Razorbacks worked hard to make their mark to let their heads get too big due to comparisons to the best teams on the show.
“I knew that with the players who were here and coming, we could be special,” said Moody. “That is what happened.
Moody and the Razorbacks (20-5, 12-4 SEC) did it with the long ball, hitting 15 points out of 3 to continue their winning streak in the longest league to match the 1994 national champions who won their last 10 games in the SEC regular season that year.
Moody had four points out of 3 and Arkansas achieved 20 wins for the second year in a row under coach Eric Musselman.
The Razorbacks started out in the first half to open a double-digit lead that South Carolina (6-13, 4-11) failed to overcome.
Justin Smith had 22 points, JD Notae 21 and Desi Sills 15, leveling his career with five points high.
Arkansas, a middle of the SEC team in percentage of three-point shots, could not fail in a first half that looked more like a practice than an SEC game.
The Razorbacks made 10 of 20 behind the hoop on the way to a 49-32 lead at halftime.
Top scorer Moody hit three points out of 3, while Sills made his first four before hitting a long shot off the ledge.
Arkansas scored 20 points out of 3 in its first victory over the Mississippi Valley in November. His previous SEC record this season was 12 in a 99-69 loss in Georgia in January. And they used the long ball to get away early.
Sills’ first 3 points put Arkansas forever on 17-14. Moody made it 26-18 with his second three goals. Even 2.13-meter Connor Vanover kicked in, hitting an open shot from the right corner. By the time Sills made it three in a row, the Razorbacks were at 32-22 and would not be caught.
It didn’t help that the two South Carolina scorers, AJ Lawson and Keyshawn Bryant, had a combination of 4 of 20 shots from 10 points in the first 20 minutes.
Lawson led the Gamecocks with 18 points.
South Carolina coach Frank Martin was disappointed with his team’s selection and focus. “We just left the gym,” he said.
Moody, the 1.80m tall freshman, finished 10 of 15 shots with seven rebounds.
THE GREAT IMAGE
Arkansas: The Razorbacks look set to be a dangerous team in March. They have an exterior shot, a dynamic marker in Moody and a strong interior game led by the quick senior in Smith. And Arkansas already has a win over SEC regular season champion Alabama to back up if the teams meet at the SEC tournament next week.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks broke a streak of six consecutive defeats last Saturday in Georgia, but were unable to find momentum against the talented and deep Razorbacks. When Arkansas started hitting three, South Carolina tried to match them. This is not their game.
MILESTONE OF MEXILHÃO
It was Arkansas’ Musselman’s 150th career win in six college seasons (four with Nevada, two with Razorbacks)
PASSING CHIC
One of Musselman’s biggest conclusions in this victory? The 305 passes he said his team made to win the Gamecocks. He usually likes to be above 200 in the movement of the ball. That, he said, was impressive. “I don’t know if I ever saw that at the college game,” he said.
NEXT
Arkansas ends the regular season at home against Texas A&M on Saturday.
South Carolina ends the regular season in Kentucky on Saturday.