South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks Fall in Overtime vs. ‘Dogs in Athens
By Kevin Miller
3-0. The South Carolina Basketball team scored first in their matchup against Georgia when Chico Carter (the SEC’s leading three-point shooter) nailed a three after a Hayden Brown offensive rebound. That might not sound impressive, and it really shouldn’t be of much note. However, it was significant. Prior to that jumper from the Columbia native, South Carolina had not held a single lead since their upset of Kentucky in Lexington five games prior. You read that right. The Gamecocks had not led for a single second in four straight games.
In a matchup of two teams not selected to compete in the SEC-Big 12 challenge, Saturday afternoon offered fans a much more competitive basketball game than recent Gamecock viewings. The Georgia Bulldogs, typically known as a team that plays a physical brand of basketball, was the favorite prior to tip-off, expected to physically outmatch the Gamecocks.
The first twenty minutes of play were marked by a clear reversal of expected roles: Lamont Paris’ team played with more physicality than their opposition, most notably in the efforts from Hayden Brown and Josh Gray. Brown finished the half with thirteen points and six rebounds, and Gray altered multiple shots while providing a strong post presence. The Gamecocks held Georgia’s two leading scorers—junior wing Kario Oquendo and senior guard Terry Roberts—scoreless in the first half. Hot 3-point shooting from Mardrez McBride kept the red and black in the ballgame.
A back and forth first half saw the road team pull ahead for a while until the Bulldogs made a run right before halftime. The Bulldogs tied things up leading up to the final possession of the half before the Gamecocks retook a two-point lead when Hayden Brown hammered home a putback dunk off a Meechie Johnson miss right as time expired.
Coming out of halftime, the Gamecocks built a steadily growing lead that capped at 12 when the garnet and black-clad squad led the home Bulldogs by a score of 52-40. Missed shots and ugly turnovers from South Carolina and aggressive offense from Georgia allowed for the home team to chip away at the lead until the score was tied at 62. After some back-and-forth lead changes, the game remained a one possession game until the end of regulation.
Hayden Brown fouled out on a questionable call under the basket, and Georgia took the lead on the ensuing free throws. GG Jackson answered on the other end to tie things up at 72, and Georgia held the ball for the final shot—or so they thought. On the miss, South Carolina’s Zachary Davis leaked out and had an opportunity to score at the horn but lost his handle after a tremendous defensive effort by Georgia’s Mardrez McBride.
The Gamecocks shot very well from three over the course of the entire game, led by Chico Carter and Jacobi Wright each going 4-5, but the Bulldogs shot fifteen free throws in the second half to cover the shooting discrepancy from distance. During the overtime period, Georgia rode the momentum gained during their second half comeback to a less-than-pretty 81-78 victory.
The Gamecocks, despite being a significantly worse rebounding team entering the contest, outrebounded Georgia 42-31 on Saturday evening, but Georgia more than made up for it by going 23-29 from the free throw line, a number far superior to South Carolina’s 9-14. In the end, the Gamecocks outplayed the ‘Dogs for about 34 minutes in Stegeman Coliseum, but the team faltered when it mattered most as they couldn’t withstand Terry Roberts’ and Kario Oquendo’s combined 26 second half points. Georgia snapped a twelve game losing streak to South Carolina and caused the Gamecocks to fall to 8-13 and 1-7 in SEC play.
South Carolina basketball will host Mississippi State on Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena.
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