The South Carolina men's basketball team fell to Mississippi State 74-68 on Tuesday in its final road game of the season, despite a strong showing from freshman forward G.G. Jackson.
In a back-and-forth matchup, the Gamecocks were unable to come away with the win following a late push from the Bulldogs.
South Carolina lost the lead with just over seven minutes left to play after a bad pass from junior forward Josh Gray that led to a fast break dunk on the other end.
The Gamecocks fought to come back, but offensive fouls on consecutive possessions in the final two minutes of the game sunk its comeback hopes.
Jackson produced most at the beginning of the game with 12 first-half points, including three free throws and one 3-pointer. The Bulldogs started the game in man-to-man defense, but Jackson exploited whoever was guarding him.
Another notable first-half performer was sophomore guard Meechie Johnson. He hit two 3-pointers, one of which came from about 5 feet behind the arc.
Though South Carolina still began the second half down 42-34, the Gamecocks did not allow a field goal until the 11:06 mark of the second half and got its first lead of the second half after a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Jacobi Wright, beginning a back-and-forth period that gave South Carolina a shot for its fourth conference win.
Mississippi State switched to a 3-2 zone coverage defensively coming out of the first TV timeout after the Gamecocks got hot, which put an end to their man-to-man struggles but did not stop South Carolina.
The Gamecocks scored 9 points against the zone before the Bulldogs switched back to man. That change by Mississippi State forced South Carolina into a scoring drought that lasted three minutes and 11 seconds.
While the Gamecocks were not able to hold on, Jackson had a strong second half with 10 points, including a strong showing of his go-to fading mid-range jumper, and eight rebounds.
Other notable second-half performers were Gray with 8 points, graduate student forward Hayden Brown with 6 points, including two put-back layups, and Wright with 6 points.
Junior guard Shakeel Moore was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs, scoring 20 points on 9-15 shooting, including contributing 7 of the team's 13 points in the final five minutes of the game.
Mississippi State redshirt senior forward Tolu Smith also played well, scoring 16 points and adding six rebounds.
The Gamecocks shot 44.23% from the field and 30% from 3-point range for the game, a sign of continuing struggles that the team has had throughout the season, and seemed rushed at times, committing poor passes and turning the ball over 14 times.
The Bulldogs only committed nine turnovers while passing the ball well themselves, with 18 assists on 50% shooting from the field, which allowed them to come away with a victory.
South Carolina (10-20, 3-14 SEC) returns home for its last game of the regular season against the Georgia Bulldogs this Saturday at 1 p.m. before heading to Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC Tournament.