Georgia earns comeback, overtime win vs. South Carolina

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia won an exciting game at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday, 81-78 over South Carolina in overtime. It’s the Bulldogs’ first win over the Gamecocks since March 2016, ending a 12-game losing streak in the series.

Mardrez McBride led Georgia scorers with 17 points, 15 of which came on five made 3-pointers, while Kario Oquendo carried the weight for the Bulldogs in overtime with eight of his 16 points, all of which came after halftime. Frank Anselem and Terry Roberts joined them in double-figures while South Carolina’s GG Jackson led all scorers with 18. Hayden Brown, Jacobi Wright, Chico Carter Jr and Meechi Johnson also finished in double-figures for the Gamecocks.

Georgia, who moves to 14-7 overall and 4-4 in the SEC, has a tough one in its next one: at No. 15 Auburn on Wednesday, the first of two straight road games for UGA. The Bulldogs and Tigers met in Athens earlier this season and Georgia actually came out on top, 76-64 behind a career-high tying 26 points from Roberts. He and Oquendo combined for 43 points on the way to Mike White’s first SEC win at Georgia. Tip time for Wednesday is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

How It Happened…

South Carolina jumped ahead early in Saturday night’s contest behind a fast start from GG Jackson. The freshman phenom scored seven of South Carolina’s first 12 points to help the Gamecocks get an early lead. However, the Bulldogs fought back and took a lead of their own, 13-12, on a layup from Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 13:40 to go in the first half.

The two teams traded the lead back and forth for a few minutes before an 11-0 run got the Gamecocks ahead by nine, 29-20, with 7:20 to go before the break. Georgia once again responded though and with less than a minute to go in the half tied it at 35 after back-to-back trips down the court ended in made 3-pointers from Mardrez McBride. A put-back dunk just before the buzzer by South Carolina’s Hayden Brown sent South Carolina into the locker room up 37-35.

Things didn’t necessarily change much early on in the second half with South Carolina leading by as many as 12 in the first 10:00 of action. That came on the tail end of a 7-0 run and was the first of four times the Gamecocks led by double-digits before the under-8 timeout.

Georgia’s leading scorers on the season, Kario Oquendo and Terry Roberts, were held scoreless in the first half, and while Oquendo got on the board early in the second 20:00 less than 60 seconds in, it took Roberts, Georgia’s leading until the 12:38 mark to do so.

The Bulldogs found life with less than six-and-a-half minutes to play. Oquendo converted an and-one layup before Georgia forced a 10-second violation on South Carolina trying to bring the ball up the court. McBride then hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night to make it a four-point game.

After coming down with a big rebound on the defensive end of the court, McBride scored two more from the free throw stripe to make it a one-possession game. Georgia would tie it with 5:15 to go on a pair of free throws from Jusuan Holt after UGA had forced a turnover. The teams traded baskets, and then game would go into the final media timeout tied at 64.

After an open 3-pointer from South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright put the Gamecocks up three with just over 2:30 to go, a layup from Holt, a big rebound from Holt and a layup from Frank Anselem gave Georgia the lead for the first time in the second half with 1:39 to go. Hayden Brown however responded with a layup on the next possession out of a Georgia timeout to give South Carolina the lead once again, bringing on another timeout from Mike White.

After Oquendo tied the game with a made free throw, Holt came up with a steal and gave Georgia the lead once again. GG Jackson however tied the game with 29.8 seconds to go, allowing White to call timeout and set up one final look. Georgia did not convert and narrowly avoided a South Carolina run out on Oquendo’s missed 3-pointer, sending the game to overtime tied at 73.

Oquendo took over in overtime, twice giving Georgia the lead in the first half of the 5:00 overtime period. He scored Georgia’s first seven points and had the Bulldogs ahead 80-76 with 2:25 to play. A free throw from Jackson with 2:06 to go, making it 80-77, was the only point scored until he made another free throw with less than 10 seconds to go. Jackson made the first and missed the second of a one-and-one which was rebounded by Oquendo. On the other end, Oquendo missed the first and made the second before Jackson’s 3-pointer heave missed sending Georgia home victorious.