COLONIAL LIFE ARENA: In a roller-coaster of a basketball game Sunday night in Columbia, South Carolina managed to ride high in the latter portions of the second half and in overtime to defeat Southern Miss 83-79. The Gamecocks attempted a school record 43 three-pointers in the process, with Meechie Johnson makeing a career high seven of them on his way to a career high of 33 points.
The Gamecocks started the game on fire making ten of their first 13 shots and building a 16 point lead midway through the first half. Then, like the Columbia weather, they cooled off. Actually, they went into a deep freeze.
The Gamecocks made just eight of their next 32 shots, and with and with 4:31 to play, they were down 63-54. Then, they got hot again. A streak of five makes in a row, including three straight threes by Johnson, tied the game at 68-68 with :40 left.
The Golden Eagles then retook the lead on a driving layup by Isaac Taveras, who finished with 25 points. After a timeout, Johnson drew a two-shot foul with five seconds to play, and he canned both shots to tie the game at 70. USM lost control of the ball just across half court and didn’t get a final shot off in regulation.
USM scored the first three points of overtime, and the Gamecocks responded with the next five for a 75-73 lead. Eli Ellis had a pair of three throws, and Mike Sharavjamts put the Gamecocks ahead with a layup off of a turnover, followed by a free throw.
After Tavares tied the game wit a layup, Johnson missed a layup on the other end, and Tavares was fouled on a fast break. However, he missed the front end of the one and one, and on the next possession, Johnson was fouled and made one of two at the line to put the Gamecocks up for good at 76-75.
After a missed USM jumper, Myles Stute, who made his first shot of the game then missed his next five, all of which were threes, buried a three from the deep left corner for a 79-75 lead with :32 remaining.
After the Golden Eagles missed another front end of a one and one opportunity, Johnson made two more free throws to push the lead to six with 16 second to play. USM closed to within a basket with seven seconds on the clock, thanks to the Gamecocks’ 15th turnover of the game, but Ellis was fouled on a fast break and made both free throws to clinch the victory. Southern Miss scored 25 points off of those 15 USC turnovers.
The Gamecocks finished with a 39% shooting night, though they made 16 of those 43 three-pointers. They’ve made 30 three point shots in their first two games of the season.
Ellis finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, and Sharavjamts added 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Those two along with Johnson combined to score 70 of the Gamecocks’ 83 points.
The Gamecocks are 2-0 and will host Presbyterian on Wednesday night.
Final Stats
