Field Level Media
Mar 2, 2021
Freshman Moses Moody tied his season high with 28 points to carry No. 12 Arkansas to its seventh straight victory, a 101-73 romp over South Carolina on Tuesday in Columbia, S.C.
Moody netted 17 points in a first half that featured 49 points for the Razorbacks (20-5, 12-4 SEC), who won their 10th straight conference game.
Justin Smith tallied 22 points and eight rebounds for Arkansas. JD Notae had 21 points, and Desi Sills added 15 before fouling out.
Arkansas, which owns its highest spot in the AP rankings since 1998, locked down the No. 2 seed for the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The Gamecocks (6-13, 4-11) couldn't reproduce the sharp performance they showed Saturday at Georgia, and they lost for the seventh time in eight games.
AJ Lawson led South Carolina with 18 points. Keyshawn Bryant scored 13 points and had nine rebounds, and Jalyn McCreary notched 10 points.
The Razorbacks sizzled by shooting 55.2 percent from the field -- 15 of 33 from 3-point range -- but South Carolina could never get rolling and managed just 37.5 percent shooting.
South Carolina kept the contest close early, but Moody's accuracy helped the visitors pull away in the first meeting this season between the two schools.
The fourth-leading scorer in the SEC at 16.6 points per game, Moody was on fire from the tip-off, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers, in just over the first seven minutes of play.
In addition to Moody, the left-handed Sills was sharp from long range, draining his first four 3-point attempts and helping the Razorbacks produce a 29-14 run to close out the first half.
In the Gamecocks' 91-70 win at Georgia, South Carolina clicked on 53.6 percent shooting while producing a season-high point total to break a six-game losing streak. However, they made just 12 of 43 shots (27.9 percent) in the first half against the Razorbacks.
Arkansas stretched its lead by outscoring the home side 52-41 in the second half to reach 100 points for the third time this season and the first time in SEC play.
--Field Level Media