Athens, GA: South Carolina survived Georgia’s best shot in the first half, caught up in the latter stages of the half and then dominated the final ten minutes on their way to a 72-62 win in Athens Saturday afternoon for their fifth straight SEC win, fourth straight on the road. The Gamecocks also avenged a five-point home loss to Georgia on January 16th.They have now won 14 of the last 16 in the series with the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs came out firing with seven threes out of their first ten baskets. They led 29-19 with 8:05 left in the first half. Back-to-back threes from Ta’lon Cooper and Meechie Johnson stopped the bleeding, and the Gamecocks fought back to within a bucket at the break 40-38.
The game remained tight through the first eight minutes of the second half. Trailing 51-49, the Gamecocks went on an 8-0 run capped by a layup and a dunk by Josh Gray to take a 57-51 lead with 8:04 left, and they would not be caught from there.
With the exception of a Johnson three, the Gamecocks had nothing but layups, dunks and free throws the rest of the way. They finished with 40 points in the paint, most coming on assists from the guards. The Gamecocks had a season high 25 assists on their 29 baskets. They are averaging over 19 assists per game in this five-game winning streak.
USC also forced five Georgia turnovers over the final ten minutes as they held the Bulldogs to 22 second half points on 29% shooting. After making seven threes in the first half, the Dogs made just one in the second half.
Freshman Collin Murray-Boyles led the Gamecocks with 16 points. He also had five rebounds and four assists. Gray had a season high 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Johnson added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Cooper scored 10 points and dished out a team high eight assists.
The Gamecocks are now 19-3 overall and have reached the halfway point of their SEC schedule with a 7-2 mark. They will be home for their next two games, Tuesday night against Ole Miss and Saturday afternoon against Vanderbilt.
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