South Carolina stuns No. 6 Kentucky in season-defining win

South Carolina has done it again.

For the second straight year, the Gamecocks took down No. 6 Kentucky at Colonial Life Arena, winning 79-62. This marks the first time they’ve won in consecutive seasons since 2009-10 when they won three straight games.

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How it happened

The first half was primarily run heavy with Kentucky being the one to get off to a good start. The Wildcats held South Carolina (16-3, 4-2 SEC) scoreless for the first few minutes with some solid defense.

But once one shot went in, the momentum in the game shifted for the Gamecocks. They went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the night in the early minutes. One of the issues they faced, though, were turnovers, which gave Kentucky chances to get hot.

The Wildcats led by as much as five halfway through the first half, but South Carolina kept punching back, especially from three-point range. It went 6-for-12 by halftime. Jacobi Wright was leading the charge, hitting his first three shots from behind the arc.

In the final minutes before the break, South Carolina really started to assert itself and looked as good as it had been all night. With just a few seconds to play, Zachary Davis knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Gamecocks an eight-point lead at halftime.

Outside of Rob Dillingham, who had 11 points, the Gamecocks did a great job of playing lockdown defense. Kentucky only shot 34.1 percent from the field and 20 percent from three.

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As the second half got underway, the Wildcats started to play much better, more on par for their brand of basketball. They hit some big shots, while South Carolina found itself struggling. But despite that, the Gamecocks still kept out in front.

Even in Kentucky’s best efforts, the Gamecocks kept pushing all the right buttons. They’d continue to pad their lead and play great defense. At one point, they led by as much as 20 points.

In the second half, South Carolina shot 53.6 percent from the floor, which was more than good enough to hand Kentucky a brutal loss.

Ta’Lon Cooper had one of his best games of the year, finishing with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He went 2-for-4 from three and had five rebounds. As a team, South Carolina connected on 11 three-pointers.

RELATED: South Carolina-Kentucky box score

Two observations

It’s time to take South Carolina serious—This is no longer some fairytale or feel-good story. This team is legit as it gets. Solid shooting complimented by even better defense. South Carolina needed a win like this to catch the country’s attention. Safe to say it will be gaining more respect now.

Defense did its job—For as good as the Gamecock defense has been this year, they hadn’t faced a group like Kentucky yet. The Wildcats came into Tuesday top-10 in most offensive categories. But South Carolina found a way to make every made shot hard to come by.

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Key stat

29:04—One of the key factors in this game would be how South Carolina would deal with Kentucky’s fast-pace offense. Overall, it didn’t seem to be much of a struggle. Once the Gamecocks grabbed the lead, they never really played from behind again and controlled the tempo. They only trailed for just over seven minutes.

Turning point

After leading by five points in the early minutes of the second half, South Carolina cranked things up a notch and took a commanding double-digit lead in the blink of an eye.

Up next

South Carolina will be back at home on Saturday to face Missouri (8-10, 0-5 SEC). Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

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