South Carolina takes down No. 25 Clemson in overtime thriller to secure massive victory

Just like that, South Carolina is right back in the conversation.

The Gamecocks, on a four-game winning streak, had been playing much better basketball but still needed that signature win in non-conference play. Tuesday’s matchup with in-state rival Clemson presented a golden opportunity to do just that.

In one of the better games in the rivalry’s history, South Carolina secured a 91-88 win over the No. 25 Tigers on Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks are 8-3 on the year and now have a massive Quad I win under their belt. Additionally, they move to 4-0-2 in the Palmetto Series this year.

“This is what college basketball is about. It’s fun. I mean, it’s more fun that we won, trust me,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “But I think from a spectator standpoint, you have to acknowledge how entertaining that basketball game was.”

How it happened

Most of the first half was heavily predicated on a series of long scoring runs. Fortunately for the Gamecocks, they had the upper hand during a few of these stretches.

South Carolina came out of the gates with plenty of energy from a packed out crowd and even better play on the floor. The team led for the first eight minutes of the half before Clemson cut the lead down to three points. But the Gamecocks went on an 11-0 run and held the Tigers scoreless for more than five minutes to take a double-digit point advantage.

When it looked like South Carolina was in cruise control, which it was for a period of time, Clemson countered with a 14-0 run to tie the game at 24 with under four minutes to go. Even with some solid play, the Tigers could never capture the lead in the first 20 minutes. And they also had the advantage of Collin Murray-Boyles having three fouls on the other side.

With the Gamecocks’ star forward in foul trouble, South Carolina had to go with a smaller lineup for the final minutes. Paris worked around this issue by inserting backup big man Jordan Butler to help out Nick Pringle in the paint.

Coming out of the final media timeout, South Carolina regained the lead on a Morris Ugusuk free throw followed by a Myles Stute corner three-pointer. Stute, who hadn’t scored a single point in his last two games, went 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting with five threes.

“I trust my work. I’m in the gym every single day. My team trusts me and counts on me to make plays,” Stute said. “Fortunately tonight, I was able to see a couple of them go in. But more importantly, we came out with the W, so I’m happy for that.”

With South Carolina back in front thanks to a quick 6-0 run, Clemson committed some costly fouls against Butler, sending him to the line twice for a free four points. This gave the Gamecocks a massive 10-0 run, as they went into the break leading by eight.

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

Only minutes into the second half, Murray-Boyles picked up his fourth foul of the night, one that came away from the ball. Right or wrong call on the floor, South Carolina would have to navigate the rest of the way with him only one more foul away from being done for the game. Zachary Davis also found himself in foul trouble with four fouls as well, putting the team in a less than ideal spot.

“I definitely showed a lot of energy and a lot of aggression,” Murray-Boyles said in regard to working through his foul trouble late in the game. “But just making sure on defense to always be calm and not to do too much to where (the officials) might call me for a foul or something like that. So just being real composed with how I play on defense.”

After Clemson’s Jak Heidbreder drilled a three coming off a screen to cut the lead down to one, Morris Ugusuk went to the ground hard after being knocked down. Following a brief review, Tiger guard Dillon Hunter was ejected, putting Ugusuk at the free throw line for two shots, which he made both.

More than 30 minutes into the game, the Tigers grabbed their first lead by forcing a turnover and going for an alley oop on a fast break the other way. They’d only hold onto the lead for a few seconds, as Stute grabbed a rebound and went back up for an easy two after Pringle missed a pair of free throws.

With fouls continuously being called left and right, neither team could create much separation as the lead went back and forth. South Carolina went up by three with under four to go, taking the lead on a Murray-Boyles and one and an up and under finish by Stute. During this small stretch, Clemson went without a point for more than two minutes while the Gamecocks made 7-of-9 shots.

South Carolina continued to play well and were in the midst of a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead with under two to go. But Clemson responded with a pair of threes to make it a one-point game with one minute to play.

However, the Gamecocks answered right back, dishing the ball around until Stute drilled a three from the corner to make it a two-possession game. After Jacobi Wright missed two free throws with 10 seconds to go, Stute grabbed a huge rebound to retain possession and force the Tigers to foul again.

Holding a three-point lead, Jamarii Thomas missed a crucial free throw, giving Clemson one last chance to try and send this game to overtime. Driving down the floor with mere seconds to go, Chase Hunter fired up a prayer three-pointer, a shot that clanked off the backboard and through the net to tie the game at 80.

“It was definitely the key we talked about,” Murray-Boyles said when asked why the defense didn’t foul Hunter when the Gamecocks were up by three. “But I guess it all worked out in the end. As long as we come out with the win, that’s all that matters. So we’re not going to hang our heads on a minor mistake, probably major mistake. But that’s something that could’ve led us to a victory easier.”

In the extra period, the Gamecocks got a big break when Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin fouled out with a little over three minutes to play. This was pivotal in that the Tigers were already without Viktor Lahkin, who had already picked up five fouls in the final minutes of regulation.

Up by five with under two to play, Thomas missed a three that went off the front of the rim. But with the ball bouncing around, he was able to grab his own rebound and go back up for a driving layup to give South Carolina a seven-point lead.

Just like he did before in the final seconds of the second half, Hunter continued to keep Clemson in the fight, as he drilled another huge three to make it a four-point game. And after he drove to the rim to go up for a layup, Murray-Boyles was charged with his fifth foul, knocking him out of the game with 50 seconds left.

With the ball in Hunter’s hands and Clemson down by two, he drove inside and lost the ball, but Christian Reeves grabbed it and tried to go back up for two. But he was fouled, putting Pringle at five fouls and sending him to the bench. On the ensuing free throws, Reeves missed the first one but made the second with 3.5 seconds to go.

“Obviously, Viktor had one of his poorer games for us all year. He’s coming off a great game and, for whatever reason, didn’t play well tonight. Ian fouling out is obviously a problem with Viktor already fouled out. We’ve got Christian in there, who doesn’t play a whole lot for us, still kind of a developmental big,” said Clemson head coach Brad Brownell.

“I’m proud of him — I thought he did some good things. And, obviously, they had to battle Colin Murray-Boyles, who was in some foul trouble, so he didn’t play as much as he normally plays. Both teams were jockeying all that all game.”

Now with a chance to ice the game, Thomas went to the opposite free throw line and made both shots. After a missed three by Hunter, South Carolina survived and pulled off the upset.

Two observations

Fouls galore—You can almost always count on a lot of fouls whenever Pat Adams is involved as one of the officials. There were an excess of fouls called on both ends of the floor, dragging the game along in the second half. It got bad when some of South Carolina’s better players were on the verge of fouling out. Murray-Boyles, Davis and Pringle each had four fouls near the halfway point of the second half. Murray-Boyles and Pringle both ended up fouling out in overtime. But in fairness, Clemson was facing a similar situation. For how great of a game this was, it was hard to watch with how many times the officiating got involved with questionable foul calls.

A great win—South Carolina had squandered big opportunities in losses to teams like Indiana and Xavier earlier in the season. But with one more big game before SEC play, the Gamecocks came through and got the job done. This will certainly help improve their chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament conversation in the long run.

[GamecockCentral has gift subscriptions]

Key stat

Four players in double figures—Murray-Boyles has been a star for South Carolina throughout this entire season. But the supporting cast around him came through when they needed to. In addition to Murray-Boyles’ 22 points, Stute had 19, Pringle had 18, Thomas finished with 11.

Turning point

After Clemson went 1-for-2 at the free throw line in the final seconds, Jamarii Thomas sealed the deal with a pair of made free throws to give the Gamecocks a huge win.

Up next

South Carolina will face Radford on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena before heading into Christmas break. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

Discuss South Carolina basketball on The Insiders Forum!