Johnson, Davis lead #Gamecocks to 70-68 win at Texas A&M (AUDIO)

Meechie Johnson and Zachary Davis teamed up for a go-ahead layup with three seconds left to give 18th ranked South Carolina a hard fought 70-68 win over Texas A&M Wednesday night at Reed Arena in College Station. The Gamecocks have won four in a row on the Aggies’ home floor, and they’ve won nine of the last eleven in the series.

At one point in the second half, it appeared the Gamecocks would not need any last second heroics to win the game. They owned a 13-point lead 46-33 with 14:27 to play. The Aggies then reeled off 17 straight points. USC went scoreless for 4:20, and went 6:19 between made field goals as they missed seven straight shots. The Aggies, on the other hand, made five of seven from the floor and four of four at the foul line to forge a tie at 47-47 with 9:08 to play.

A three-pointer by Solomon Washington with 8:31 left, one of only two deep balls made by the Aggies all night, gave Texas A&M their first lead of the game 50-47. But the Gamecocks responded with a 12-2 run for a 66-59 lead with 2:35 remaining. Ta’lon Cooper started the surge with a three-pointer, and Johnson finished it with a layup and free throw.

The Gamecocks maintained the seven point lead after a Davis layup with 2:04 left, but the Aggies scored the next seven points for a 68-68 tie with :09 left on the clock. Johnson quickly received the inbounds pass and pushed the ball down the left side of the floor. He dished off to an open Davis standing under the basket on the right side of the lane, and the sophomore capped a career high night of 16 points with a layup with three seconds to play.

The Aggies called timeout and were not able to get off a shot after Wade Taylor took the inbounds pass, stumbled and fell as he hurriedly dribbled across the halfcourt line.

The Gamecocks hit eight three-pointers which help offset a 22-6 scoring disadvantage from the foul line. They also had 22 assists on their 28 baskets.

Johnson, who was 1-15 over the previous two games, bounced back and hit three of those threes and finished with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists. Davis added his 16 points and Cooper had 11 points, eight rebounds and a season high nine assists.

Wednesday also marked the first points scored as a Gamecock by point guard Ebrima Dibba. He transferred from Coastal Carolina prior to last season but tore his Achilles tendon during his first workout and missed the season. He played in the season opener against Upstate but not since. He scored two points in six minutes Wednesday night.

With their win and the loss by Auburn at Tennessee, the Gamecocks stand alone in third place in the SEC with an 11-4 mark, a game behind Alabama and Tennessee for the top spot in the standings. USC is 23-5 overall and will host Florida Saturday with a noon tip.

Final Stats

Lamont Paris postgame press conference