South Carolina falls in overtime against LSU at home to extend losing streak

Revenge is a dish best served cold. In the midst of a winter storm, LSU put together a meal for the Gamecocks following a South Carolina win in Baton Rouge on Jan. 6. Despite coming back from an early double-digit deficit on Saturday, South Carolina fell in overtime to the Tigers, 92-87.

“Tough game. Felt bad for the guys,” Lamont Paris said after the game. “Grueling. I mean, two teams fought really hard, and both really wanted and needed to win, and just weren’t able to do it at the end.”

The Tigers took their first lead of the game on a three from Rashad King just 20 seconds into the game. Starting early on, LSU was physical inside the paint. South Carolina fell behind in the battle of the boards. By the third media timeout, LSU collected more points in the paint (18) than the Gamecocks had total (15). The Tigers held a 13-point advantage at that point, leading 28-15.

But South Carolina found their momentum after starting 5-17 from the field. They were sparked by an infusion of Eli Ellis. After the third media timeout, the Gamecocks compiled a 10-0 run. They forced three turnovers from LSU in the span and hit four shots in eight attempts. Mike Sharavjamts‘s dunk with just over four minutes to go in the first half brought the margin back to a single possession for the first time since 13:07 mark.

Both teams found their respective rhythms soon after, with the Gamecocks and Tigers trading three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. The last of those threes was the start of a 7-0 run to end the half for South Carolina. When Meechie Johnson‘s floater dropped in as time ticked down at the end of the first half, the margin dropped to just one point, 36-35.

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One reason for the momentum shift at the end of the half was improved interior defense from South Carolina. The Tigers didn’t collect any further points in the paint in the first half after Marquel Sutton’s dunk moved the score to 28-15. Causing disruption, the Gamecocks recorded six steals in the first half.

“There’s size on every team in this conference,” Kobe Knox said. “So we know every night we’re going to go against size…we’ve just got to continue to get better.”

However, it didn’t take long for the Tigers to return to their interior success in the second half. In the first four minutes of action, LSU scored three times in the paint, including multiple dunks from Mike Nwoko. But as LSU began to score with ease inside, South Carolina backed up.

The Gamecocks went on a heater from three in the second half. In the first nine minutes of the second half, South Carolina shot 5-8 from deep. That included multiple from Eli Ellis. But it was another freshman, Grant Polk, that gave the Gamecocks their first lead of the day with a tip-in to move the margin to 49-47 with just over 15 minutes to go.

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Both teams traded buckets for a few minutes, with Nwoko scoring seemingly at his choosing against the South Carolina interior defense. However, Eli Ellis drove in with just over ten minutes to go in the contest and drew Nwoko’s fourth foul on the day. With Matt McMahon sitting Nwoko, the Gamecocks went on another run. Down three at the time, South Carolina forced multiple turnovers in quick succession for a couple of fast-break scores.

From the 10:05 mark in the second half to 7:23, South Carolina went on another run, this time 9-0 to take a five-point lead. That was the largest lead of the game for the Gamecocks at that point. But both teams continued to trade buckets. The game moved into the one-possession margin deep into the second half. With the clock under five minutes, McMahon put Nwoko back in the game with four fouls. LSU needed a spark. That got them one, and the two teams traded leads.

With just 20 seconds to go, the game was deadlocked at 78 apiece. That’s when half-court pressure from South Carolina’s defense forced a jump ball, though possession stayed with the Tigers. They inbounded the ball with 6.4 seconds on the game clock, but just 1.6 seconds on the shot clock. Then, LSU’s Rashad King missed a three-pointer on the inbounds play. That gave the Gamecocks a chance to win the game with 2.1 seconds on the clock after Meechie Johnson grabbed the rebound.

Johnson hurled up a shot at the buzzer from over half-court, but it hit between the rim and backboard to the left, sending the game to was overtime. LSU drew two quick fouls, earning three points in two trips to the line. Both teams continued to get to the line, and neither squad connected on a shot for the first three minutes of overtime. With under a minute to go in overtime, the margin was in favor of LSU by one point. LSU had possession, and found a wide-open Max Mackinnon to put the dagger in the Gamecocks.

With a four-point lead, LSU fouled Sharavjamts on the other end, who hit both his free throws. On the ensuing possession, Rashad King missed one of his free throws. South Carolina had the ball down three with 7.3 seconds, but Meechie Johnson was fouled. He missed the first, and a violation occurred on the second, dashing South Carolina’s hopes. Marquel Sutton dunked with seconds remaining to put the exclamation mark on the victory for LSU.

“But if you look at the real waning moments of the game, we didn’t make some plays, and combined with some free throw shooting, oftentimes, that’s the difference in these close games,” Paris said.

Up next: The Gamecocks will travel to Austin on Tuesday, Feb. 3, as they will play Texas. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network.

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