COLONIAL LIFE ARENA: South Carolina put one final exclamation point on a season of “what-ifs” Tuesday night in the team’s final home game of the season. The Gamecocks never led and dropped their 15th SEC league game, a program regular season low point, in a 73-64 loss to Georgia Tuesday night.
But they didn’t go down without a fight. They trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and got it within two points in the second half before wilting down the stretch, a common theme to a frustrating season.
South Carolina (12-18, 2-15 in the SEC) closes out the regular season with a road contest at No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday. Regardless of the outcome of that game, the Gamecocks will be the No. 16 seed in the SEC Tournament. They’re only one game behind LSU but the Tigers won the head-to-head meeting, 81-67, earlier this season.
The Gamecocks finished the 2011-2012 season with a 2-14 SEC record when they only played 16 league games. This season has already set the mark for most losses in the SEC since they have an 18-game schedule now. This comes one season after finishing 13-5 in the league.
This game was a drastic contrast from the one on when South Carolina limited Arkansas to 14 first half points and just 28.8 percent shooting from the field in winning handily. The Bulldogs wasted very little time changing that trend.
Georgia made 12 of its first 18 shots and ended the first half, shooting 53 percent from the field in building a 40-29 lead at the break.
But a spirited defensive effort in the second half brought the Gamecocks within striking distance.
Collin Murray-Boyles and Jamari Thomas hit back-to-back three-pointers that helped the Gamecocks pull within 40-35 with just under 18 minutes remaining. Another Thomas three brought the margin to 42-38.
South Carolina trimmed it to two points, 49-47, on a 3-point play by Nick Pringle but that’s as close they would get. Silas Demary hit a basket and Blue Cain drained back-to-back three’s and the lead was back to double digits with 7:08 remaining.
The Gamecocks got within four points a couple of times in the closing two minutes but could never get the stop they needed down the stretch.
Murray-Boyles led the Gamecocks with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Nick Pringle finished with 11 points on his senior night.
Georgia (19-11. 7-10) won its third in a row to get into the NCAA Tournament conversation. It was just the third road win of the season for the Bulldogs. Demary scored 16 points and Blue added 14 in a balanced effort.