South Carolina comeback bid falls short against Ole Miss
Things were going all South Carolina. Zach Davis had the ball in his hands with a chance to retain possession in a one-score game.
The ball slipped out of his grasp, going back to Ole Miss, who scored and iced things in a 67-61 win in the SEC Tournament.
The Gamecocks are now eliminated.
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How it happened
Things started sloppy for both teams and largely remained that way in a back-and-forth first half that ended with Ole Miss clinging to a one-point lead.
The teams combined for eight turnovers in the first five minutes and at one point Ole Miss ballooned its lead to six points. But the Gamecocks closed the half on a 7-2 run while holding the Rebels scoreless for the final 2:08 of the half and without a field goal for over four minutes before halftime.
South Carolina chiseled its way back at least in the first half thanks to Hayden Brown, who had nine of his 11 points in the first frame, including two big dunks in the process.
Things were sluggish out of the break for the Gamecocks, who started things off with a GG Jackson dunk but went scoreless for the next four minutes as Ole Miss ballooned its lead to eight four minutes into the half.
But things shifted quickly. The Gamecocks went on a 10-0 run to retake the lead, largely spurred by Jackson. South Carolina’s freshman finished with 24 points, 16 coming in the second half.
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Ole Miss would counter with a 12-2 run of its own, leading by as many as nine points in the second half.
But the Gamecocks wouldn’t go down without a fight. Jackson drilled a three with just under a minute to go to make things a one-possession game. South Carolina got a stop on the ensuing defensive possession but a defensive rebound slipped out of Zach Davis’ hand and Ole Miss kept possession.
Then it was Ole Miss drilling a shot as the shotclock ran down to ice the game.
Two observations
Big three kept the Gamecocks in it–South Carolina entered the season needing a trio of Brown, Johnson and Jackson to be good and all three were Wednesday night. Brown kept South Carolina in the game in the first half and the latter two were the catalysts for that 10-0 run. Johnson finished with 13 points on 13 shots while Jackson had 24 to pair with five boards.
Offense can’t go through slogs–The Gamecocks offensively have shown moments of being really efficient but far too many stretches where things haven’t been. Those issues reared their heads again Wednesday, headlined by a four-minute scoring drought. If Ole Miss wasn’t able to build that big lead right after half, the game might have been different.
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Key stat
9 and 13–The Gamecocks struggled defensively, especially on the perimeter and in transition. Ole Miss, a bad three-point shooting team, hit 9 of 22 Wednesday, including two big ones late. Ole Miss also had 13 points in transition, a massive reason why the Rebels were able to largely stay on the front foot in the game.
Turning point
After a massive Jackson dunk to open the scoring after half, Ole Miss went on a major run and pushed its lead to almost double digits. South Carolina fought back, but that bad stretch really put the Gamecocks behind the eight ball.
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Up next
South Carolina’s season is over now and the Gamecocks will begin constructing next year’s roster.
