COLONIAL LIFE ARENA: South Carolina pushed second ranked Auburn to the brink of defeat Saturday afternoon in Columbia, but the Gamecocks did not score over the final 5:18 and the Tigers squeezed out a 66-63 victory for their eighth straight victory over the Gamecocks.
After losing their first two SEC games in blowout style, the Gamecocks resembled the kind of team their fans and basketball pundits thought they would be, despite the absence of starters Myles Stute and Jamarii Thomas due to injuries.
They went back and forth with the Tigers and led 63-62 with 5:18 to play.
That’s when the Gamecocks’ shooting turned ice cold. Collin Murray-Boyles missed a pair of shots inside. Jacobi Wright and Zachary Davis missed layups. And Morris Ugusuk missed a three pointer.
However, Auburn’s shooting was just as off. The Tigers made only one of their last six shots. That make was a dunk by Dylan Caldwell with 1:32 to play that put Auburn on top 64-63.
The Gamecocks had a chance to retake the lead with nine seconds to play when Nick Pringle went to the line for two shots. But he missed both. The Gamecocks had to foul twice to get the Tigers to the line, and Tahaad Pettiford made a pair with four seconds left for a 66-63 lead.
Davis inbounded the ball from the baseline and his pass to Murray-Boyles was tapped over to Ugusuk. His three at the buzzer, however, was short and Auburn escaped with its 8th straight win.
The Gamecocks led by six points at the half largely due to their work on the boards. They outrebounded the Tigers 21-14 withi ten offensive boards that led to 11 second chance points. Murray-Boyles scored 18 of his points in the first twenty minutes.
Auburn clamped down defensively in the second half and held USC to 23 points on 38% shooting. The Gamecocks also went 1-6 from the line in the final 20 minutes. The 63 points are the second fewest USC has scored in a game this season.
Murray-Boyles broke out of his mini-scoring slump with 25 points, his second highest scoring outing of the season. Arden Conyers gave the Gamecocks a boost off the bench with a career high 13 points. He had scored a total of five points on the season coming into the game. And Pringle had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Pettiford led the Tigers with 15 points. Auburn had to play most of the second half without starting forward Johnni Broome due to an ankle injury. He only scored six points before departing.
The Gamecocks are now 10-6 and 0-3 in the SEC and will try to snap their three-game losing streak at Vanderbilt Wednesday night. Auburn is now 15-1 and 3-0 in the league.
Final Stats
