South Carolina Gamecocks at Arkansas Razorbacks

Thornwell leads South Carolina past Arkansas 76-61

The junior certainly played the part well in the Gamecocks (24-7, 11-7 Southeastern Conference) 76-61 win at Arkansas.

It was the fifth time Thornwell has topped 20 points in the game this season, though none of the other performances were as timely for a Gamecocks team that entered the game having lost two in a row and four of six overall.

"Our team is not focused on one player, and our offense is not designed around one player, so we all took it upon ourselves to step up a notch and do the things that Mike (does) with each other," Thornwell said.

Thornwell was at his best early, scoring 15 points in a first half where South Carolina's multiple pressure-defensive looks left Arkansas confused and out of rhythm offensively.

And it did so without Carrera, who entered the game averaging 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

"We're not going to replace (Carrera) with one guy," South Carolina coach Frank Martin said. "But we need a community effort to replace his personality, we need a community effort to replace his rebounding ... And you have to trust in the guys that you have."

Arkansas entered Saturday having won four straight games to keep its faint hopes of reaching the postseason alive, but the Razorbacks hit only 4 of their first 18 shots and shot 26.9 percent (7 of 26) in falling behind 36-24 at halftime.

Dusty Hannahs and Anthlon Bell had 16 points each to lead Arkansas, while Moses Kingsley added 13 in the regular-season finale.

"Tough day at the office," Anderson said. "They were the more aggressive team, they were the more physical team ... I thought we were tentative against whatever defense they had.

South Carolina didn't let up in the second half, opening on a 20-5 run that saw it take a 56-29 lead after a putback by Chatkevicius.

The Razorbacks did cut the South Carolina lead to nine points several times late in the game, but they were unable to get any closer against a Gamecocks team that shot 50.9 percent (28 of 55) from the field and outrebounded Arkansas 41-26.

TIP-INS

Arkansas: The Razorbacks opened the game hitting 4 of their first 18 shots, and Bell finished 6 of 17 from the field.

DROPPING DIMES

UP NEXT

Both teams next play at the SEC tournament next week.

How can I watch South Carolina vs. Arkansas?

• TV Channel: South Carolina at Arkansas 2021 College Basketball, week 17, is broadcasted on SEC Network.
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