South Carolina falls to Georgia on Senior Night, locks in spot as No. 16 seed in SEC Tournament

South Carolina had already done it twice. Why not try to go out and do it one more time?

The Gamecocks, who were winless for most of SEC play, had won two of their last three games coming into Tuesday’s home finale. Both wins came against NCAA Tournament bubble teams, beating Texas by 15 and Arkansas by 19 points.

With another bubble team in Georgia coming into town, the opportunity presented itself for South Carolina to play spoiler for a third time. And for a time, it looked like it might’ve been able to. But the Gamecocks (12-18, 2-15 SEC) couldn’t get it done in a 73-64 loss to the Dawgs on Senior Night.

“Our effort was good. The guys wanted to win. We made a nice run there in the second half, just weren’t able to take the lead,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “I think if you get in a game like that, once you take the lead, think mentally that’s that’s a huge hurdle to overcome, and confidence starts to soar.”

This loss officially soldifies South Carolina as the No. 16 seed going into the SEC Tournament next week. It will play the No. 9 seed in the first game of the tournament next Wednesday, March 12, at 1 p.m. in Nashville, Tennessee.

How it happened

In South Carolina’s two SEC wins, both Texas and Arkansas got off to slow shooting starts, which allowed the Gamecocks to take commanding leads into halftime. This time around, Georgia learned from the other two teams’ mistakes and hovered above 60 percent shooting from the field for most of the first half.

The Dawgs ended up dipping below that mark before the break and went 16-of-30 (53.3 percent). But it was still more than enough to stay in front for the entire half.

“I think our general activity and energy could have been a little bit better in the first half, but I’m also realistic,” Paris said. “They had some guys make some hard shots. I mean, a couple of guys made midies, as they call them, from the baseline — challenged midies.”

The Gamecocks didn’t shoot as well, only at 34.4 percent, but hung around for most of the half. They knocked down five three-pointers, with two each coming from Jacobi Wright and Zachary Davis. Arden Conyers also drilled a three.

There weren’t a lot of turnovers in the early going, although Georgia blocked five shots, which took opportunities away from South Carolina. The Gamecocks also closed out the half without a made field goal for the last three minutes as the Dawgs took an 11-point lead.

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Out of the break, South Carolina quickly cut the deficit down to five after Murray-Boyles and Jamarii Thomas each hit threes. It had a chance to get even closer after Murray-Boyles made a putback layup, but the officials waved it off.

Murray-Boyles also found himself at the free-throw line multiple times in the early minutes. However, he missed three of his first four attempts to keep the Gamecocks from cutting the lead down further.

On the other end of the floor, South Carolina’s defense had been doing a better job of not letting Georgia get rolling like it did in the first half. This kept the game close, and the Gamecocks got back within two points after an and-one by Nick Pringle near the halfway point.

Within the next two minutes, though, the Dawgs were back in front by double digits after going on an 8-0 run with a pair of made threes by Blue Cain.

“We really just got to make winning plays at that point,” Pringle said. “… We just got to be on our P’s and Q’s, especially when we are fighting to get back into the game. Once those went in, I think they went back to like 10, and it was tough to kind of fight back.”

Despite falling behind again, the Gamecocks were able to get back within four with under two minutes to go. Even though Murray-Boyles missed some early free throws, he helped keep them in the game as he had 14 second-half points and went 11-for-16 at the line. He finished with 24 points on the night.

But again, Murray-Boyles missed two more key free throws late in the game that ultimately kept South Carolina from coming back. Right after this, Georgia’s Dylan James made an and-one layup at the other end to create enough separation in the end.

Two observations

Much more competitive—South Carolina had gone down to the wire in many games throughout its previous 13-game losing streak. In these last few games, outside of the Missouri loss, the on-court play has looked much improved. There’s still work to do, though, as it came close at different moments in this game but never led at any point.

Three-pointers kept South Carolina in it—Looking at the numbers, South Carolina only shot 37.3 percent from the field. But going 10-for-22 from three-point range was big in keeping it in the game. Especially in the second half, the Gamecocks were 5-of-9 from behind the arc. It was mostly the opposite for Georgia, with the Dawgs shooting 48.1 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent from deep. Yet, they were still able to hold on.

Key stat

37 to 23—The big difference in this game was Georgia dominating in the rebounding battle. The Dawgs finished with 37 rebounds compared to South Carolina’s 23. This allowed for 11 second-chance points.

Turning point

Trailing by six in the final minute, Murray-Boyles missed two-straight free throws, which led to an and-one for Georgia’s Dylan James on the ensuing possession to seal the deal.

Up next

South Carolina will close out the regular season with a trip to Knoxville to take on No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. on SEC Network.

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