South Carolina Basketball Lets Dogs out with a Win
Mississippi State came back and defeated South Carolina 76-61 Saturday evening. The Gamecocks gave the Bulldogs everything they had, but Carolina couldn’t seal the deal.
South Carolina Basketball had the Bulldogs right where they wanted, and it just fell apart. After leading for a good part of the game, once Mississippi State turned up the tempo, the Gamecocks had no answer.
The Gamecocks led early on in the second half 41-29, but that is when the Bulldogs kicked it into overdrive. With 15:11 left, Mississippi State came back and took a 46-45 lead.
I blinked, and the Bulldogs were in the lead.
Mississippi State looked slow and sluggish in the first half; then someone lit a fire under its tails. The Bulldogs had three players score in double-digit points and five to score at least nine.
Reggie Perry led the way for State with 21 points and six rebounds. He completed 7-12 and went 7-7 from the free throw line. Quinndary Weatherspoon contributed 17 points and completed 6-11 shots.
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Lamar Peters was the last Bulldog to score double-digit points with 11. He also brought down three boards.
The Bulldogs shot 33.3 percent from the floor and 25 percent from the arc in the first half. Then State got hot and completed 17-26 shots in the second half and 6-10 from the arc.
Mississippi State increased its completion percentage to 65.4 percent in the second half. The Bulldogs also made 18-20 free throws in the game.
As for the Gamecocks, the opening half was a lot more productive. In the first half, they completed 43.75 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the three-point line.
Then it went cold, and I mean cold. Carolina made eight total shots in the second half. The Gamecocks made 8-25 from the floor and 4-11 from the arc.
They shot 32 percent overall and 36.36 percent from the 3 point line. And the Gamecocks only completed 50 percent from the free throw line.
South Carolina looked like a completely different team than it did in the opening half.
A.J. Lawson led the Gamecocks with 18 points and two rebounds. Behind him was Maik Kotsar who had 13 points and five rebounds.
Chris Silva only played 19 minutes and scored five points and one rebound. He made 1-6 shots, and couldn’t find a rhythm at all.
Hassani Gravett got cold too. He made 2-7 shots and went 0-3 from the arc. That performance is rare with him also, especially after getting hot earlier this season.
No matter what South Carolina did, it didn’t go right. Mississippi State took over and exposed how weak the Carolina defense was.
Before the game against Mississippi State, South Carolina started to get some NCAA talk after winning nine of the first 13 conference games.
The only conference losses came from LSU, Tennessee, and Kentucky, which looked good on paper because those are the top three SEC schools.
Now the Gamecocks are 14-13 and that bubble to get into the NCAA tournament got a whole lot smaller. And you would think being 9-5 in the SEC would give a team a good shot, but the out of conference record wasn’t the best at all.
For South Carolina to even be a bubble team anymore, it must win out the four remaining games. Even then, it may not be enough.
Florida Basketball Must Refocus after Mizzou Game. dark. Next
The Gamecocks come back home to take on Alabama Then Carolina will go on the road to Missouri and Texas A&M before finishing off the season at home against Georgia.
South Carolina can do it, but Silva and company cannot go cold again. If there was any time for a rally, it’s now. Tip-off for the Alabama game is Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.