After getting honored before the game for senior night, Frank Booker and Wesley Myers put on a show, scoring a combined 48 points for South Carolina as it capped off its final home game with the 83-74 win over LSU in overtime.
After a slow first half left them tied at the break, the Gamecocks shot a searing 61 percent the rest of the way, including 70 percent from the three-point line. Booker himself finished 8-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 from beyond the arc, allowing South Carolina to improve to 16-15, 7-10 SEC on the season.
Booker finished the first half with six points, second on his team to Myers, but started to find his momentum in the second half. When LSU took a timeout 6:44 into the second half trailing 50-41, Booker led all scorers with 17.
Within that period of time, the Gamecocks — proud owners of the 310th-best three-point shooting percentage in the nation heading into Wednesday’s matchup — drained five three-point shots, of which Booker contributed three, including two on consecutive possessions.
Once again the Tigers battled back, stringing together a 15-2 run capped by Wayde Sims drawing Silva’s fourth foul and converted the and-one to make it 64-62 with 4:50 left. LSU stayed within close range the rest of the way, down 72-69 with 12.4 seconds to go.
On the ensuing inbound, LSU freshman guard Tremont Waters ended up with the ball and hit a three-pointer with the clock showing 3.7 seconds, forcing the Gamecocks to overtime for the second consecutive game.
It was all South Carolina in the extra frame as Hassani Gravett scored his lone six points of the evening, accompanied by a Maik Kotsar layup and a trio of free throws from Wesley Myers to ice the 83-74 win.
Booker, who led the team with 25 points, knew this senior night would be special, but credited the win to his fellow transfer.
"I was trying to get a win for this guy next to me [Myers]. It's our first year, we've been fighting to get through it together," Booker said. "It was a special moment for the both of us. For me, especially."
Myers, who led the Gamecocks with seven rebounds, took a more reflective approach.
"I'm just grateful to be here with great teammates and a great coaching staff and I'm just glad I had the opportunity to play at this university," Myers said.
South Carolina head coach Frank Martin was less enthused, focusing on the team's last-minute collapse and inability to close out LSU in the second half.
"There's times that I'm on the sideline that I'm helpless with our inability to just make a simple pass," Martin said. "But somehow, some way we figured out a way to win our seventh conference game. We got a great opportunity going into Auburn on Saturday. And we gotta be excited, and get ready to go."
The Gamecocks wrap up the 2017-2018 regular season with a visit to Auburn this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Auburn has lost three consecutive road conference games, including one to South Carolina on Feb. 17.