South Carolina basketball doomed by cold shooting
Cold shooting doomed the South Carolina basketball team and Mississippi State pulled away in the second half for a 73-51 win.
Mississippi State led 36-34 at halftime and a dunk by Wildens Leveque tied the game early in the second. South Carolina missed its next three shot attempts and a 9-0 Mississippi State run blew the game open.
South Carolina shot 44.8% in the first half, but couldn’t buy a basket in the second half. The Gamecocks missed dunks, layups (4-15 for the game), threes, and everything in between. They shot just 4-31 from the floor, 1-10 from three, and 8-16 from the foul line. The Gamecocks managed just 17 points, a season-low for a half.
South Carolina was able to make one charge in the second half. Trailing by ten, South Carolina scored seven unanswered, but the run ended in a deflating fashion. Devin Carter was fouled on a three and made two of three free throws. Then he stole the ball and passed ahead to Keyshawn Bryant for a breakaway, but Bryant missed the dunk. Instead of a tie game, those three missed points gave Mississippi State life. Tolu Smith scored on a putback.
The Bulldogs soon added 7-0 and 8-0 runs and pushed the lead to 20 in the final minute.
The team that won the rebounding battle won each regular-season game, and that continued Thursday. Mississippi State was plus-ten rebounding behind a double-double from Smith, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Andersson Garcia’s 14 rebounds. Iverson Molinar added 19 points.
Erik Stevenson led South Carolina with 18 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Carter added 10. Jermaine Couisnard and Bryant struggled. Couisnard had nine points but shot just 3-14. Bryant’s struggles began when he was blocked on a dunk attempt off the opening tip. He had eight points and was just 3-13 from the floor and 2-6 from the line.
South Carolina basketball notes:
Iverson Molinar added 19 points for the Bulldogs. … Mississippi State scored 19 points off 18 South Carolina turnovers. South Carolina got just nine points off 15 Mississippi State turnovers. … South Carolina had 10 assists on 17 baskets. … South Carolina’s season is over. The Gamecocks await a possible NIT bid.
