Despite never leading in the second half, the South Carolina men’s basketball team pulled out a come-from-behind overtime with over Ole Miss Tuesday, moving the Gamecocks to 4-1 in SEC play. The Gamecocks scored the final 11 points in regulation after trailing 66-55 with under four minutes to go to force overtime. South Carolina made six of their seven free throw attempts in the extra period, including an and-one from senior forward Michael Carrera to give the Gamecocks the final lead.
It was another rough shooting night from the Gamecocks, now having made just 13 of their last 66 three point attempts, which comes out to less than 20 percent, following last night’s 4-14 performance. Coach Frank Martin’s squad struggled from the line as well, making 67.7 percent of their free throw attempts, despite the hot streak in overtime.
Starting guards Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier struggled significantly, combining for 3-22 shooting from the field and 5-14 from the free throw line. The duo also combined for seven turnovers, and were unable to make strong contributions offensively. Thornwell, who leads the team with 12.1 points per game, was unable to build on his strong performance in Saturday’s win over Vanderbilt, where the junior poured in 19 points to rebound from the team’s first loss of the season.
With the starting guards struggling, freshman Jamall Gregory stepped in and was instrumental in sparking the late South Carolina run. The reserve guard provided momentum with a powerful left-handed dunk to cut the lead to seven, then got into the lane to set up a Carrera layup that made the margin just one possession. Gregory averaged just five minutes per contest coming into the game, but he has gotten an increase in minutes recently, likely because of the playmaking potential he put on display against the Rebels.
Ole Miss gave the Gamecocks everything they could handle, making 10 threes in the contest. Senior guard Stefan Moody, who leads the SEC in points per game this season, was true to form, scoring 24 points on just 13 shots.
Moody did suffer a leg injury with five minutes to go in the second half and was forced to leave the court. Moody missed less than a minute of game time, but his injury gave South Carolina momentum, and the Gamecocks would outscore Ole Miss 24-10 after he was injured. Already without second-leading scorer Sebastian Siaz, the Rebels simply couldn’t overcome a hobbled Moody, as the star guard was held scoreless after the injury.
It took everything they had, but the Gamecocks are now 17-1 this season heading into Saturday’s visit to Tennessee. Between last night’s close win and last week’s blowout loss to Alabama, South Carolina has struggled on the road as of late, so Martin’s team will need to bring their best against a Volunteers team who pushed Texas A&M to the wire in Knoxville.