Final score: South Carolina 63 Missouri 54
What does it mean?
It’s survive and advance time for South Carolina, and the Gamecocks lived to see another day by defeating Missouri 63-54 in the first round of the SEC tournament Wednesday night. The Gamecocks are now 3-1 in the their last four SEC tournament games dating back to last season, and will now face Ole Miss in the second round of the tournament on Thursday. South Carolina (16-15) is now above .500 for the first time since beating Georgia on Feb. 17.
Turning point: South Carolina, which led by as many as 13 points in the first half, let Missouri come within two points with under seven minutes left in the second half, but the Gamecocks then went on a 11-4 run to end the contest.
Key player
Sindarius Thornwell (South Carolina) — In a win or go home scenario, South Carolina counted on Thornwell, its go-to guy, to have a good game and he did. Thornwell led the Gamecocks with 18 points, but perhaps the sophomore guard’s biggest contribution was his passing. As Missouri began to switch to a 2-3 zone defense, South Carolina’s offense initially became stagnant, but Thornwell’s ability to find open teammates would prove to be crucial. Thornwell finished with a team-high six assists while making five of his nine shots.
Key stat: South Carolina had 20 points off of 16 Missouri turnovers.
Analysis: Any hopes of South Carolina surprising folks with its play in the SEC tournament had to start with the Gamecocks handling business against Missouri, the league’s last place team, in the first round, and although head coach Frank Martins’ team struggled at times, they did just enough to move on.
South Carolina continued its recent success on offense early on and led by double-digits for much of the first half.
Junior forward Michael Carrera’sgood play on the offensive front along with strong performances from Thornwell and sophomore guard Duane Notice helped the Gamecocks assert their dominance for much of the early action.
Carrera had 12 points and Notice added nine.
But South Carolina allowed Missouri’s ill-equipped and sometimes stale offense to finish the first half on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit down to six points.
The Gamecocks’ struggles continued into the second half as Missouri made what looked like a possible blowout a close contest.
As Missouri made its comeback, the Tigers dominated South Carolina on the glass, out-rebounding the Gamecocks 35-26 and they had 15 offensive rebounds.
Freshman guard Montaque Gill-Caesar led Missouri with 10 points, and Missouri relied on its bench players for production. The Tiger reserves scored 26 points in what was a true team effort for head coach Kim Anderson’s squad.
But Thornwell’s heroics and the Gamecocks’ ability to keep its poise down the stretch would prove to be too much.
Missouri scored just three points in the final 5:58 of the game.
What’s next?
Ole Miss awaits the Gamecocks and the two teams will face off at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Rebels are currently projected to make the NCAA tournament according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, but a loss could push Ole Miss toward the bubble. The winner faces Georgia in the quarterfinals on Friday. South Carolina is 2-0 against the Bulldogs this year.