Razorbacks take on Carolina Wednesday

FAYETTEVILLE — The Razorbacks are coming off a road loss which ended their five-game SEC winning streak, but return to the friendly confines of Bud Walton Arena to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Comcast Sports and tape delayed on Cox Sports (channel 119 on Cox cable) in Northwest Arkansas.

The first 5,000 fans in attendance on Wednesday night will receive a Razorback team photo card and all fans have the opportunity to get autographs from the Razorback softball team.

Arkansas (13-12, 6-4 SEC) moved into a first-place tie with Mississippi State after Saturday’s game and knows that it must defend home court if it hopes to win the SEC’s Western Division. Courtney Fortson continues to lead the Razorbacks in scoring as the sophomore point guard averages 19.8 points per game in SEC contests. The Razorback’s five-game SEC winning streak matched the fourth longest in school history.

The Razorbacks held halftime leads in both of their games last week and went 1-1 after training in each of the previous eight and went 5-3. Playing out in front was new to the Razorbacks, but something they handled easily at home, but struggled with on the road. Some of Arkansas’ best attributes over its winning streak and come-from behind victories was its defense and rebounding, two things that escaped the Hogs over the final 20 minutes of the Alabama contest. The Razorbacks will have to rebound, play solid defense and get to the free throw line to have success against the Gamecocks.

South Carolina (14-10, 5-5 SEC) is led by senior Devan Downey who averages nearly 30 points per game and has a fantastic win over Kentucky. The Gamecocks have won three of their last five games including that win over the Wildcats and are coming off a loss on the road at Georgia, 66-61. In that loss, Downey scored just 18 points and was matched by Brandis Raley-Ross, but South Carolina did not have an answer for the tandem of Trey Thompkins and Jeremy Price who scored 37 points.

The Arkansas-South Carolina game will be broadcast on Comcast Sports at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The contest can also be heard on radio across the state of Arkansas on the Razorback Sports Network with Mike Nail and Rick Schaeffer giving the calls. Nail is in his 29th and final season as the play-by-play voice of the Razorbacks.

Looking past the South Carolina contest, Arkansas returns goes back on the road to play the Auburn Tigers on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.