WATCH: Why beating Kentucky is huge for South Carolina
Tuesday night’s 71-68 win over Kentucky was huge for South Carolina Men’s Basketball, with Meechie Johnson leading the charge and scoring a career-high 26 points.
Collyn Taylor and Kendall Smith have more today on Gamecock Central on what the win will do for the program, as South Carolina prepares for their Saturday SEC match-up at home against Texas A&M.
For more on Gamecock Men’s Basketball, stay tuned with GamecockCentral.com and on social media @GamecockCentral.
MORE: South Carolina upsets Kentucky, wins at Rupp for first time since 2009
By Collyn Taylor
Some wins just feel different and South Carolina had one of those Tuesday against Kentucky.
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead and never trailed against the Wildcats, picking a 71-68 win. It’s their first win at Rupp Arena since 2009.
South Carolina snaps a two-game skid and picks up its first win in SEC play.
Lamont Paris becomes just the third South Carolina coach ever to win at Rupp, and it snapped a 28-game home winning streak.
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How it happened
South Carolina (8-8, 1-2 SEC) started about as well as it could, jumping out to a 13-2 lead and leading 21-8 early in the first half.
Kentucky would make things interesting in the first half, but 16 first-half points from Meechie Johnson and 4-for-5 shooting from three helped South Carolina lead by double figures at half.
Johnson would help push the lead to 10 at the break on a gorgeous alley-oop to Josh Gray, making his first start of the year.
Kentucky, though, would figure things out offensively in the second half. The second half started pretty back and forth with teams trading blows while the Gamecocks kept the lead around 10 points.
Every time the Wildcats would make things interesting, Johnson or GG Jackson would make a play to keep the Gamecocks up at arm’s length through the first 10 minutes of the half.
Jackson finished with 16 points, nine of which came after halftime. He got to the line three times, making two.
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Things changed, though, down the stretch. Kentucky used a 6-for-8 shooting stretch and a two-minute Gamecocks’ scoring drought to make it a five-point game and fforceLamont Paris to call timeout.
But South Carolina, like it had all game, responded. Johnson drilled another long-range three, his sixth of the game, and Jackson hit his biggest shot of the day. He nailed a corner three-pointer to put the Gamecocks back up 11 and force a Kentucky timeout.
Johnson rattled off a career-high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting and paired it with six assists to five turnovers.
But that didn’t stop things from getting hairy at the end. Kentucky made a frenzied comeback to make it a one-point game with just a few seconds left. Jacobi Wright, though, rallied to hit a pair of free throws and come up with a huge steal to ice the win.
After a Gamecock turnover, Kentucky had a chance to tie but Kentucky missed multiple chances and the Gamecocks picked up a win.
Two observations
This is the energy South Carolina needs—Regardless of the result, South Carolina played with the right competitive edge needed to win in the SEC. The Gamecocks were aggressive, energetic and frenetic and played arguably its most competitive game of the season. Johnson sparked a lot of that in the first half. South Carolina has to find a way to bottle that and carry it forward.
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That’s the GG Jackson South Carolina needs–Johnson was electric and deserves all of his flowers but Jackson bounced back from a terrible game against Tennessee to the tune of 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and just one turnovers in 35 minutes. Johnson makes the offense tick but Jackson gave South Carolina exactly what it needed, too.
Key stat
11-for-20: It’s been the story of the season, but when South Carolina can hit three-pointers it can be competitive against more talented, experienced teams. The Gamecocks shot 55 percent from deep compared to Kentucky’s 3-for-10 and it paced them to a massive win.
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Turning point
Kentucky was on a heater, rallying all the way back from 11 down in the final minutes to make it a one-possession game. Jacobi Wright, though, stepped up huge to hit two free throws and come up with a steal to ice the game.
Up next
The Gamecocks get an off day Wednesday and will prepare for a home league game Saturday night. South Carolina will host Texas A&M at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
