FAYETTEVILLE -- There were scattered boos at the final horn at Walton Arena on Tuesday, but it had nothing to do with the Arkansas Razorbacks' third win in a row, a comfortable 75-59 decision over South Carolina.
A segment of University of Arkansas fans were acutely aware a historic streak 33 years in the making met its unceremonious end.
For the first time since a 99-92 win at Texas on Jan. 7, 1989, the Razorbacks failed to make a three-point shot. Arkansas shot 0 for 11 from three-point range to end the streak of 1,092 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in the country behind only UNLV and Duke.
Many fans were yelling "three!!!" during the last few minutes, but the Razorbacks didn't pull the trigger on a three-point try after JD Notae missed one at the 4:47 mark.
Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman heard the crowd calling for a three-pointer.
"I had heard rumblings about the record with about a minute and a half to go, but you have to play the game to finish it and win it the right way," Musselman said.
"It probably doesn't happen often, but it also teaches our guys a lesson that we can win a game by double-digits without making a three. It's not like we didn't take any or we came into the game and said, 'Hey, don't even attempt them.' When you're 0 for 11 and you're drawing FTAs by attacking the rim, the object of the game is to win."
The Razorbacks were 0 for 7 from three-point range in the first half and 0 for 4 in the second half.
Former Razorback Pat Bradley, who played in 132 games during the three-point streak, said on the SEC Network, "The calling card for this Razorback team is not the three-point line, so as much as it hurts that the streak ended, for them it's getting to the free throw line."
South Carolina Coach Frank Martin mixed his defenses, running some man but even more 2-3 matchup zone, which had defenders extend out to the arc.
"Yeah, they're not a great three-point shooting team," Martin said. "I thought in the first half our zone was pretty good. I thought in the first half our man-to-man was pretty good. I really thought we defended fairly well."
The game featured only one made three-pointer in the second half, by South Carolina freshman Devin Carter. South Carolina shot 6 of 13 from three-point range (46.2%) in the first half, but went 1 of 10 in the second half to finish at 30.4% for the game.
Arkansas, which entered as the second-worst three-point shooting team in the SEC at 29.7%, ahead of only Missouri (25.1%), fell to 107 of 371 (28.8%).
Arkansas went 0 for 2 in the game against Texas, with Lee Mayberry and Cannon Whitby missing the three-point shots.
According to HogStats.com, Arkansas has failed to make a three-pointer in just seven games since the scoring change was adopted for the 1986-87 season.
Going to the rack
Arkansas leads the SEC in free throws attempted and made and the Razorbacks were all about it throughout the game.
The Razorbacks made 15 of 17 free throws (88.2%) in the first half and 2 of 16 (75%) in the second half to total 27 of 33 (81.8%) for the game. Arkansas had more made free throws than field goals (24).
"We want to get to the rack," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "We want to get paint points. We want to try and attack the offensive glass. And all those things I thought we did a really good job of tonight. Fourteen offensive rebounds."
South Carolina Coach Frank Martin lamented the Razorbacks aggressiveness at going to the hole.
"The second half, whether we went zone or man to man they just said, 'We're driving the ball, and I'm coming.' They had two plays where they drove the ball against a 2-3 zone from the top and shot a layup in front of the rim," Martin said. "Where's our center? I'm still looking for him."
Board beat
Arkansas outrebounded the Gamecocks 43-37, giving the Razorbacks a win on the glass for the fourth consecutive game. In that span, Arkansas has outrebounded opponents 169-130 for an average of 42.3 to 32.5 per game.
Arkansas spread out its rebounding, with Jaylin Williams (9), Au'Diese Toney (8), JD Notae (7), Stanley Umude (6) and Davonte Davis (5) all having five or more.
Nearly a minute
Arkansas kept possession of the ball for almost the entire first minute of the second half before Jaylin Williams converted a layup to pull the Hogs within 40-35.
In rapid order, Au'Diese Toney had a shot blocked by Devin Carter but he got the carom and missed again. Trey Wade rebounded that miss and gave to JD Notae, who missed his shot. Notae rebounded his own miss and fed to Williams who dropped it in at the 19:06 mark.
"In the second half they got after us," South Carolina Coach Frank Martin said. "I think they had five or six offensive rebounds the first two possessions of the second half."
Coming back
Arkansas won its fifth consecutive game at Walton Arena in which it trailed at halftime. The streak started with a 75-73 win over Auburn last Jan. 20 in which the Tigers led 43-31 at intermission.
According to HogStats.com, that matches the longest streak for the Razorbacks since they did it five times between a comeback win over UNLV on March 19, 1997, through a conference victory over Mississippi State on Jan. 7, 1998.
Outback honor
Coach Sam Pittman and the Arkansas football team were honored during a timeout in the first half. With Pittman, linebacker Bumper Pool and quarterback KJ Jefferson standing at mid-court, the Razorbacks' 9-4 season and Outback Bowl win over Penn State was touted before the group called the Hogs.
Jefferson and Pool took turns holding the Outback Bowl trophy, the last of four won by the Razorbacks during the 2021 season, following the Southwest Classic over Texas A&M, the Golden Boot at LSU and the Battle Line over Missouri.
Personnel report
Arkansas forward Kamani Johnson sat out a second consecutive game as he continued to rehab an ankle injury suffered in the Razorbacks' 87-43 win over Missouri in his first start of the year.
Coach Eric Musselman returned to the bench a game earlier than projected and wore a harness to protect his left shoulder after undergoing rotator cuff surgery last Thursday.
Danyelle Musselman, the coach's wife, was shown cheering with the crowd after Arkansas completed an 18-1 run to open the second half and took a 51-41 lead.