South Carolina men’s basketball (12-16, 3-12 SEC) lost to Kentucky (18-10, 9-6 SEC) on Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks have now lost eight of their last nine games, all in conference play.
Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson opened the scoring for the Gamecocks with a 3-pointer. Kentucky responded with a 3-pointer of its own, coming from sophomore guard Collin Chandler.
South Carolina started the game aggressively from deep, with senior guard Mike Sharavjamts sinking two consecutive 3-pointers. Kentucky responded with 2 points from senior guard Denzel Aberdeen, before senior forward Nordin Kapic added a 3-pointer to establish a 12-5 advantage for the Gamecocks.
Kentucky began to chip away at South Carolina’s lead, with a jumper from senior guard Otega Oweh and a layup from junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate making it a 15-13 game. Aberdeen then scored back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Wildcats a 22-15 lead.
South Carolina ended Kentucky’s 13-0 run through a layup from freshman guard Grant Polk. Sophomore forward Andrija Jelavić scored two straight layups following a Sharavjamts free throw to give the Wildcats a 26-18 advantage.
Johnson scored a floater to end the first half, with the Gamecocks trailing 28-21. The Gamecocks shot 7-28 (25%) from the field in the first half, and four of the seven made field goals were 3-pointers.
South Carolina started the second half with a 7-0 run, which included a layup from Sharavjamts to tie the game at 28. A 5-0 Kentucky run was followed by jumpers from redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox and Johnson. Aberdeen then scored a 3-pointer, giving Kentucky a 36-32 lead.
The two sides continued to go blow-for-blow as the second half went on. Dioubate scored 5 consecutive points, including a driving layup after a steal, to set the score at 46-41 for the Wildcats. A free throw from junior forward Elijah Strong, followed by a jumper, tied the game at 48-48.
Kentucky responded with a 9-2 run. Two free throws from freshman guard Eli Ellis were followed by a layup from Dioubate, leaving the Gamecocks with a 59-52 deficit.
With just under three minutes remaining, the Gamecocks had two more free throws from Ellis, as well as a 3-pointer from Sharavjamts. Kentucky responded with a 10-0 run, including a 3-pointer from Chandler, to give itself a 12-point lead.
A late Johnson 3-pointer cut the Wildcats' lead to 70-62; However, Chandler added a dunk for the Wildcats. Johnson, who ended as the Gamecocks' top scorer for the seventh consecutive game, scored the game’s last point with a free throw, with the final score ending up 72-63 Kentucky.
The Gamecocks ended the game with just nine assists to their 21 field goals, while shooting 36.8% from the field. Kentucky out-rebounded South Carolina 48-28 over the course of the game.
What’s next?
South Carolina travels to Athens to take on Georgia (19-8, 7-7 SEC) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.