South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down from road win against Texas A&M
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina basketball got back on track over the weekend with a win over the Ole Miss Rebels on the road, and on Wednesday, the Gamecocks started a road winning streak by knocking off the Texas A&M Aggies.
The first half was not the prettiest half of basketball either team had played this season. The Gamecocks gave the ball away 8 times, lost the rebounding battle, and fouled too much. Despite a huge advantage in shooting efficiency (52%/40% to 30%/0%), the Gamecocks only led by 3 points because of the extra possessions and free throws that they kept gifting to Texas A&M.
After halftime, the Gamecocks had a hot start that put them up by 13. However, A&M answered with a massive 17-1 run in which the Gamecocks went over 6 minutes without a made shot from the floor. Trailing 50-47, Lamont Paris had to take a timeout to settle his team.
After the timeout, the Gamecocks quickly retook the lead, and outside of one very short stint, A&M never was able to take it back. South Carolina basketball held on for the 70-68 win in College Station after a frenetic end-of-game that saw A&M take the lead with under 12 seconds left, Carolina answer with a bucket, and the Aggies get another chance before the final buzzer.
For the game, the Gamecocks assisted on 22 of their 28 buckets, outshot A&M from the floor and from 3-point land, and had just 1 2nd half turnover. They overcame questionable officiating that resulted in a 25-13 free throw attempt disadvantage to move their record to 23-5 on the season.