WholeHogSports – Hogs-Gamecocks: a lot of time to come

FAYETTEVILLE – More than 350 days after the basketball teams at the University of Arkansas and South Carolina were due to play last season’s SEC tournament, the 12th Razorbacks and Gamecocks will finally meet tonight.

The denunciation is at 17:30. Central at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Arkansas and South Carolina were scheduled to play in a second round of the SEC Tournament on March 12, 2020 – 355 days ago – in Nashville, Tennessee, after the Razorbacks defeated Vanderbilt 86-73.

But about nine hours before the complaint at Bridgestone Arena, the SEC announced it was canceling the rest of the tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Other conferences also canceled tournaments after news that the NBA was suspending its season because Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert had tested positive for coronavirus.

“I remember sitting in that arena watching Arkansas playing Vanderbilt, and the news came about Rudy Gobert,” said South Carolina coach Frank Martin on Monday. “I was like, ‘This is not a good thing.’ “

After announcements about the cancellation of the conference tournaments, it was announced that the NCAA Tournament had been canceled along with the national indoor athletics championships.

Within days, all college sports were canceled.

“It looks like it was four years ago, to be honest with you,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said of the days before the pandemic.

For Martin and the Gamecocks, it may seem even longer.

Martin had two positive tests for covid-19 – last May and again in January – and South Carolina went from December 5 to January 2 between games because the team was handling positive tests for covid-19, tracking contact and quarantine.

South Carolina (6-12, 4-10 SEC) had to cancel five games in that period, then had two postponements in mid-January.

Arkansas (19–5, 11-4) did not have to lose a game because of covid-19 issues involving the Razorbacks.

Texas A&M postponed its two games against Arkansas because of the Aggies’ positive tests, contact tracking and quarantine. One of these games is scheduled to be played on Saturday at the Walton Arena.

“They managed to handle this crazy year better than we did,” said Martin of the Razorbacks. “The fact is that they managed to stay constant and, if you remember earlier in the year, they were trying to find out who they were as a team. Then they dealt with Justin Smith’s injury.”

Smith, a senior striker transferred from Indiana, lost four games after undergoing ankle surgery on January 1. Arkansas is 10-2 since Smith’s return and ranks best in the Associated Press poll since 12th place in 1998.

“With Smith back, they are solidified in who they are as a team now,” said Martin. “We never had the opportunity to go through that journey that we used to do at the beginning of the year and we have been trying to find that out in the championship, which made it very difficult for us.”

Razorbacks, who added nine scholarship debutants this year with transfers and freshmen, have won nine consecutive SEC games after a 2-4 start.

“Muss has really good players and he obviously did a great job in building that stability,” said Martin. “The fact that they were not interrupted, I think, allowed them to become that.

“Give Muss a lot of credit. He has those guys playing at a very high level. I don’t care what league you’re in, when you win nine consecutive league games, your team is real.

“I am not excited to have to play against them. But as a coach, a person who tries to do this for a living, what they are doing is very special.”

South Carolina had lost six consecutive games before winning 91-70 in Georgia on Saturday, led by bodyguard Jermaine Cousinard’s 23 points off the bench.

Gamecocks have most of their key players back from last season’s 18-13 team, including juniors AJ Lawson (averaging 17.5 points) and Keyshawn Bryant (14.4). Lawson scored 19 points last season when South Carolina beat Arkansas 79-77 at the Walton Arena.

Before South Carolina lost six consecutive games, the Gamecocks won 72-66 in Florida on January 31, when the Gators took 22nd place, having defeated West Virginia on the road.

“South Carolina is really dangerous, they play hard,” said Musselman. “And I think with some programs now, it is difficult to assess their performance if there were breaks, lost games. I think they are a very good team and very well trained.”

Musselman said the Arkansas technical team will ensure that Razorbacks have great respect for Gamecocks.

“Certainly, their game against Georgia should get everyone’s attention,” said Musselman. “How well they played and scored more than 90 points.”

Martin said he tried to make this season “more about our journey as a team at this crazy time” and the lessons learned on how to deal with adversity, instead of focusing on wins and losses.

That said, the Gamecocks were happy with the victory in Georgia.

“Our spirit is fine, but winning a game made us all feel a little better,” said Martin. “Because it seemed normal again, as opposed to what we’ve been feeling for the past 10 months, and definitely for the past four weeks from a game point of view.”