Hogs ride 4 turnovers, 51-pt. 2nd half past Cocks

ATLANTA -- Excellent ball security paid off for Arkansas in its SEC tournament opener.

Arkansas committed only four turnovers, including only one while scoring 51 points in the second half, to beat South Carolina 82-52 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday.

Arkansas barely missed matching the SEC tournament record for fewest turnovers in a game. Vanderbilt had only three turnovers against Florida in the 2004 tournament.

"We were phenomenal just taking care of the basketball," said Arkansas coach Stan Heath.

"When you're in the game, there's things that are happening that you don't realize are happening. You just get caught in the moment. I just thought, 'Boy, we're playing like a well-oiled machine,'" he said.

Starting guards Gary Ervin, who scored 16 points, and freshman Patrick Beverley combined for eight assists and no turnovers.

"Coach told us, 'If you control the basketball we'll win the game,'" Ervin said.

South Carolina's plan to cause problems with its pressure defense was foiled by the Razorbacks' ability to pass the ball around the court.

"We scrimmaged the press and planned to use it, but it seemed like we were going from Lexington to Augusta," said South Carolina coach Dave Odom. "That was a lot of court to cover from a press standpoint."

Arkansas (19-12) broke open a close game with a 27-9 run in the second half to preserve its NCAA Tournament hopes.

Arkansas may need another SEC tournament win over Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals Friday to remain on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Razorbacks made the NCAA field for the first time in five years last season.

Darian Townes also scored 16 points for Arkansas. Beverley, the SEC's newcomer of the year, had 11 points and Sonny Weems added 10.

Arkansas led 49-40 before pulling away with the long run. A 3-pointer by Ervin pushed the lead to 20 points at 67-47 with 7:30 left. Weems added two 3-pointers as Arkansas finally pushed the lead to 30 points.

South Carolina, the two-time defending NIT champion, wound up under .500 and won't have a chance to defend that title.

The Gamecocks (14-16) were led by Brandon Wallace's 16 points and 15 rebounds. Bryce Sheldon added 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and Tre Kelley had 11 points -- eight below his average -- on 4-for-14 shooting.

Weems, a 6-foot-6 forward, shadowed the 6-foot Kelley most of the game.

"I wanted him to have to make tough shots," Heath said of Kelley.

"They tried to go with size on me," Kelley said. "They made it difficult for me to make shots I normally make.

"We made some shots, but we didn't make enough tonight, and it cost us," he said.

By protecting the ball and avoiding turnovers, Arkansas had more opportunities to create scoring opportunities near the basket. The Razorbacks outscored the Gamecocks 40-22 in the paint.

"That speaks for itself," Wallace said. "That's outstanding."

Both teams struggled with poor shooting in the opening half. South Carolina was only 2-for-10 on 3-pointers and made only 33 percent of its shots from the field overall. Arkansas wasn't much sharper, shooting 37 percent, but led 31-24 at the break by outscoring South Carolina 10-0 at the free-throw line.

South Carolina's Dominique Archie, a freshman from Augusta, missed the final 13:29 of the first half after injuring his left leg. He returned in the second half but did not score.

"The turning point was knowing that Dominique would not come back," Odom said. "That took something out of us."