The Gamecocks defeated the SEC-leading LSU Tigers 94-83 Wednesday in Ben Simmons’ much-anticipated appearance at Colonial Life Arena.
The freshman forward from Australia picked up two early fouls, which led to his benching for the final eight minutes of the first half. Simmons, guarded primarily by Chris Silva in the first half, had just five points and four assists at halftime. This matchup comes nearly one year after the two squared off in the Metro Classic game, when Silva dropped 27 points and 14 rebounds.
Simmons did most of his damage in the second half, however, as LSU’s primary ball handler. He began the second half with three straight baskets, including an and-1 dunk that narrowed LSU’s deficit to five after it ballooned up to nine early on.
"We made some defensive mistakes, which we'll watch on film, on Simmons in the second half. I thought we defended him well in the first half. Our help defense wasn't clean in the first half, but we defended him well," head coach Frank Martin said.
The highly touted NBA prospect finished the game with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, but missed a key free throw with 57 seconds remaining.
Senior forward Michael Carrera was also in foul trouble early, picking up two fouls in the first half. Martin played Carrera for just two minutes in the first half, forcing him out of rhythm early on.
Carrera recovered down the stretch, along with point guard PJ Dozier, to lead the Gamecocks to victory. The two combined for 24 points and five rebounds in the second half.
"PJ's a beautiful kid, just an unbelievable, beautiful kid. And I've said this from the beginning: The best part about him is that he wants me to coach him," Martin said.
Carrera was honored prior to tipoff for surpassing 1,000 career points.
Fouls were an issue for both teams with three players fouling out and a total of 56 personal fouls between the two teams. The Tigers missed 12 of their 28 free throw attempts. Silva, Mindaugas Kacinas and Craig Victor III fouled out.
Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell followed up a season-best performance against Texas A&M with another strong performance, scoring a game-high 24 points — six in the final minute. Thornwell shot 40 percent from the field, but hit 11 of his 14 free throws to secure the win.
LSU’s other freshman standout, Antonio Blakeney, led the Tigers in scoring, with 22 points on 4-6 three-point shooting.
The victory moves South Carolina atop the SEC standings with Kentucky narrowly trailing. John Calipari’s Wildcats are next up, scheduled to tip off at noon Saturday.