Hogs blow big lead, then rally at South Carolina

Arkansas' Bobby Portis (10) drives to the basket in front of South Carolina's Michael Carrera (24) iduringthe first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Travis Bell)
Arkansas' Bobby Portis (10) drives to the basket in front of South Carolina's Michael Carrera (24) iduringthe first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Travis Bell)

After blowing a 20-point first half lead, Arkansas overcame an 11-point second half deficit to beat South Carolina on Thursday.

The Razorbacks closed the game on a 13-1 run to come back and beat the Gamecocks 78-74 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

South Carolina led 71-60 with less than six minutes remaining before Anthlon Bell hit two 3-pointers to help Arkansas quickly get back into the game. The Razorbacks took a 74-73 lead on a layup by Michael Qualls with 1:26 remaining.

Bobby Portis added a putback with 14 seconds remaining and made two free throws in the final second to help close out the Gamecocks. Portis finished the game with 24 points and eight rebounds.

Arkansas (24-6, 13-4 SEC) was on the verge of suffering its most devastating loss of the season before the comeback. The Razorbacks made 13 of their first 18 field goal attempts and led by 20 points with less than six minutes left before halftime.

But South Carolina's defense flustered Arkansas for the rest of the game. The Gamecocks used a 10-0 run to help trim the deficit to 11 by halftime.

South Carolina (14-15, 5-12) led for most of the second half after Laimonas Chatkevicius' basket with 12:10 remaining.

Tyrone Johnson led South Carolina with 18 points, but the senior guard was unable to play the final 2:30 because of what appeared to be a cramp in his calf muscle. Arkansas outscored the Gamecocks 8-1 after Johnson left the game.

Qualls had 18 points and Bell added 17 points for the Razorbacks. Ky Madden had nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Arkansas won its seventh road game of the season to match its best record away from home since 1995. The win was the Razorbacks' first at South Carolina since 2001 and first in seven tries at Colonial Life Arena.

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