South Carolina men’s basketball (12-17, 3-13 SEC) lost 87-68 on the road to Georgia (20-9, 8-8 SEC) Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia. The Gamecocks have now lost four of their last five against the Bulldogs, including the home fixture earlier this season.
The Bulldogs started the game with two quick baskets, including a 3-pointer from freshman forward Kareem Stagg. Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson got the Gamecocks on the board with his own jumper soon after.
Georgia continued its hot start, hitting their next three shots to extend their start to five straight made baskets and hitting five of its first six 3-point attempts to give the Bulldogs an early 17-9 lead.
South Carolina halted an 11-4 Georgia run with a layup from freshman guard Grant Polk. Both teams then traded 3-pointers, with senior guard Justin Bailey hitting one for the Bulldogs before senior forward Nordin Kapic responded with his own for the Gamecocks.
Georgia extended its lead to 30-18 courtesy of a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Jeremiah Wilkinson. Freshman guard Eli Ellis made his second basket of the half on a layup to cut the deficit back to 10 points.
Bailey and Stagg combined for a pair of baskets to give the Bulldogs a 37-24 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
South Carolina then responded with a 9-2 run to try and get back into the game before halftime. A pair of free throws from redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox brought the Gamecocks back within 6 points, and Johnson added his own free throws soon after.
Junior forward Jordan Butler drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 37-31, but a layup from Georgia’s junior guard Blue Cain ended South Carolina’s unanswered 7-point run.
Georgia then went on its own 9-2 run to end the half, with a 3-pointer from junior guard Marcus Millender and back-to-back 3-pointers from Wilkinson helping the Bulldogs establish a 48-35 lead heading into the break.
South Carolina started the second half with an early basket from freshman forward EJ Walker, which was quickly answered by Georgia’s sophomore center Somtochukwu Cyril with his own basket to make it 50-37.
The Gamecocks opened up an 8-0 run spurred by free throws from Johnson and Knox and two baskets from senior guard Mike Sharavjamts to bring South Carolina within 6 points at 53-47.
Wilkinson ended the run with a 3-pointer and hit another two free throws to extend the lead to 60-51. Ellis responded with a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to 6 points.
Georgia then went on a 13-2 run, punctuated by a 3-pointer from junior forward Dylan James to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the day at 73-56.
A slew of missed 3-pointers from both teams followed, finally ended by a second-chance 3-pointer from Johnson to make it 75-61 with just under five minutes to play. However, a pair of dunks from Cyril ended any hopes of a Gamecock comeback bid as Georgia took a 79-65 lead late.
An additional late 8-3 run for Georgia cemented the comfortable win as South Carolina fell to the Bulldogs 87-68. Johnson led the Gamecocks in scoring with 20 and finished as the team’s top scorer for the eighth straight game.
The Gamecocks ended the game with just nine assists for the second consecutive game.
What’s next?
South Carolina will be back at home to take on No. 22 Tennessee (20-9, 10-6 SEC) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.