Colonial Life Arena: South Carolina saw a ten-point halftime lead evaporate in the second half, then regained control of the game over the final 13 minutes and went on to a 72-64 win over Missouri Saturday afternoon at the Colonial Life Arena. The win extends the Gamecocks’ winning streak to three as they improved to 17-3 overall and 5-2 in the SEC with a season sweep of the Tigers.
USC led 39-29 at intermission with BJ Mack scoring 15 points. The Gamecocks shot 56% from the floor including 6-13 from three-point range over the first twenty minutes. The Tigers wiped out that lead in just over three minutes of the second half. The Tigers scored the first 11 points by hitting four of their first five shots while the Gamecocks opened the half making just two of their first six shots.
Mack put the Gamecocks back in front 42-40 on a jumper and free throw. They would not trail again though the game was tied twice over the next three minutes.
USC broke a 46-46 tie with 13:49 left with a 7-0 run highlighted by back-to-back threes from Jacobi Wright and Ta’lon Cooper. After the Tigers crept to within four, Zachary Davis nailed a three for a 57-50 lead at the 7:23 mark. The Gamecocks then made five straight free-throws around a Mizzou breakaway layup for a ten-point lead at 62-52.
Missouri scored the next four points before Davis hit another three-pointer to push the lead back to 65-56 with 3;39 to play. Missouri was able to cut the lead to five on two more occasions, but Cooper made a layup for a seven-point lead and Wright made three of four from the line down the stretch to kill Missouri’s final hopes.
The Gamecocks finished with a 44% shooting night, only 32% in the second half, but they did knock down ten from distance compared to just two for Missouri. USC needed those threes because they were outscored badly in the paint 40-20.
Mack led USC with 21 points and Cooper added 12. The Gamecocks managed to win the game with leading scorer Meechie Johnson going scoreless for the first time in his USC career. Johnson was 0-9 from the floor, 0-7 from three, though he did hand out two assists.
The Gamecocks are back on the road for their next two games beginning Tuesday night at 5th ranked Tennessee at 6:30. They will play at Georgia next Saturday.
Final Stats
