Arkansas eliminates Georgia from SEC Tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The 2015 Southeastern Conference Tournament held true to form as No. 2-seeded Arkansas defeated No. 3-seeded Georgia, 60-49, in Saturday’s semifinals.

The Razorbacks advanced to meet No. 1-seeded Kentucky on Sunday.

Arkansas (26-7) won the game, but it was hardly in its “Fastest 40” fashion of an up-tempo, high-scoring affair.

The Razorbacks were held 19 points below their season scoring average.

Most telling of all was that Bobby Portis, the SEC player of the year, was held scoreless until 15:06 remained in the game. He finished with four points, hitting only 1-of-14 shots from the field goals and 2-of-3 free throws.

Junior guard Michael Qualls picked up the slack with 15 points, despite hitting only 5-of-13 shots. Junior guard Anthlon Bell added 10 points.

Georgia (21-11) got 13 points each from senior forward Marcus Thornton and junior forward Cameron Forte. Senior guard Taylor Echols added 10 points.

Georgia shot only 33 percent, 16-of-49, and had 12 turnovers. Arkansas made 37 percent, 22-of-59, and committed 11 turnovers.

Portis’ only basket, however, came during a run that saw Arkansas move to a 44-25 lead, forcing a Georgia timeout with 13:03 left. The Razorbacks had outscored Georgia, 19-8.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Georgia senior guard Taylor Echols trimmed the lead back to 15 points at 44-31 with 11:39 to go, but Arkansas pushed the lead back to 53-38 with 6:41 remaining.

Georgia made one last late charge, trimming a 16-point deficit to 56-47 with barely under four minutes to go, but Arkansas managed to push back and hang on.

Arkansas might have entered the game as one of the highest scoring teams in the nation — 10th at 79.1 points per game — but the battle with Georgia proved to be a slugfest over the first 20 minutes.

The Razorbacks led, 25-17, at intermission.

The game was marred by significant scoring droughts during the first half. No points were scored by either team during stretches of 2:27, 2:41 and 2:26.

As a result, the game was tied 12-12 with 5:42 left before intermission.

Arkansas made only 33 percent of its shots, 10-of-30, while Georgia was even worse at 28 percent, 7-of-25. The teams combined to make 1-of-9 three-point baskets.

Georgia had four assists and seven turnovers, Arkansas checked in at two assists and six turnovers.

The good news for Arkansas was that eight players scored in the first half, led by Qualls with six and Babb with five. The bad news was that Portis, the SEC player of the year, missed all six shots and did not score in the first half.

Georgia got 11 of its 17 points from Forte. Beyond that, three other players scored only two points each.