South Carolina survives Southern Miss in overtime for second straight win

Despite trailing by double-digits after the game’s last media timeout, South Carolina escaped with a win over Southern Miss. The Gamecocks struggled for a majority of the night, yet still remain undefeated. By the time the final buzzer in overtime sounded, the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 83-79 behind a strong performance from Meechie Johnson. Johnson finished the night with 33 points.

A trio of triples from Myles Stute, Mike Sharavjamts, and Meechie Johnson set the tone early, as the Gamecocks made their first four shots en route to an 11-9 lead after the first media timeout.

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A run out of the gate after the first game break led to a double-digit lead for South Carolina. The Gamecocks made eight of their first 10 attempts from the field, including five of seven threes. The theme of Tuesday’s win, assists, was key in the first part of the first half. Kobe Knox had four assists in the first 10 minutes, and Eli Ellis provided a spark off the bench.

However, the Golden Eagles found holes in the Gamecocks defense, bringing the deficit back into single digits. Following the hot start from South Carolina’s offense, the Gamecocks hit a drought, shooting 2-13 from the floor for a stretch as Meechie Johnson was forced to sit with three fouls. South Carolina didn’t score in the last 4:11 minutes of the first half.

By the end of the first half, the margin was 38-34 in favor of the Gamecocks. Coming out of the break, however, South Carolina committed a trio of turnovers in the first couple of minutes, allowing the Golden Eagles to take a multi-possession lead at 44-39 after a 10-1 run.

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But Mike Sharavjamts, who ended the night with 17 points, hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding momentarily. After the first media timeout, both teams traded baskets for a few minutes as the Golden Eagles continued to take advantage of a Gamecocks team that struggled to crash the boards.

In all, Southern Miss outscored South Carolina 57-41 in regulation from the 11:21 mark in the first half. With just under ten minutes to go, Nordin Kapic scored his first points of the night on a three to cut into a nine-point Golden Eagles lead. Shortly after, Meechie Johnson drew a foul down low but missed the subsequent free throw, keeping the lead at two possessions.

With time ticking down in the second half, the South Carolina offense continued to struggle. After starting the game 5-7 on threes, the Gamecocks only managed to hit 11 of their next 36 attempts from deep. Despite issues on both ends of the court, the deficit remained in single digits until the last media timeout. Israel Hart hit a floater with 3:49 left to move the margin to 65-54 in favor of the road team.

Facing a double-digit lead with under four minutes to go, South Carolina was on the ropes. Two quick baskets from Meechie Johnson and Eli Ellis moved the lead back to six points, 65-59. The lead was cut to three points minutes later on a deep heave from the top of the arc from Johnson, then Johnson drove up the floor following a miss from Southern Miss.

For the second straight possession, Johnson heaved a deep three from far beyond the arc. And for the second straight possession, the ball found the bottom of the net. It was Johnson’s seventh three-pointer of the night. But the Gamecocks defense didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Isaac Taveras got inside for a score, retaking the lead for Southern Miss.

Johnson’s heroics were far from over, as he drew a foul to get to the line down two with seconds remaining. Johnson sank both, and a tussle for a loose ball as time ran out sent the game to overtime.

In transition with minutes to go, Mike Sharavjamts converted on an and-one, marking the Gamecocks’ first lead since 19:12 in the second half. The game remained a one-possession contest until Meechie Johnson found a wide-open Myles Stute on the wing. The senior hit the shot to move the margin to 79-75 in favor of South Carolina. A late turnover from South Carolina led the Golden Eagles to cut the lead back to two points, but Eli Ellis iced the game with two free throws with just seconds to go. A three-pointer from Southern Miss, though inconsequential, fell off the rim as time expired.

Up next: The Gamecocks will be back at home again on Wednesday, Nov. 12, as they will host Presbyterian. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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