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Gamecocks’ Rally Not Enough, Fall At Missouri, 82-74
A career-high seven
3-pointers from Brenton Williams and a double-double from Michael
Carrera wasn’t enough on the road as Missouri (15-4, 3-3 SEC) held off
South Carolina (7-12, 0-6 SEC) for an 82-74 win at Mizzou Arena.
Williams
posted 32 points as he set career highs in made 3s (7) and 3’s
attempted (14). Carrera recorded his first career double-double with a
season-high 16 points and 11 rebounds. Missouri was led by its scoring
duo of Jordan Clarkson (22) and Jabari Brown (24) who were above their
season average with 46 combined points.
The Gamecocks struggled
against Missouri’s defense in the early going as the Tigers ran out to
an 11-0 run, bookended by 3s from Earnest Ross and Brown. Carolina
scored its first points of the game just over four minutes in as
Sindarius Thornwell hit a pair from the foul line.
Despite
Williams hitting his first 3-pointer of the game at the 12:47 mark, the
Tigers were able to push the lead back to 11 with under 10 minutes
remaining after a layup from Brown. Another 3 from Williams though
started a 9-2 run from Carolina that brought the team within four at
22-18 with just over six minutes remaining the half.
The
Gamecocks went cold from that point on as Ross poured in a nine points
during a 16-0 run for the Tigers that gave them a 38-18 advantage with
a minute and half remaining until the break.
Carrera ended the
four-plus minute scoring drought with a jumper, and Williams added two
from the foul line just before half, but Missouri held a 38-22 after
the opening 20 minutes, shooting 13-26 (50 percent) from the field
compared to Carolina’s 7-27 (25.9 percent).
After Brown opened
the second half with a 3 for Missouri, Williams answered and the
Gamecocks were able to climb back to within 11 two minutes later after
a four-point play from Carrera. The Tigers had another answer though in
the form of back-to-back 3’s from Clarkson and Brown.
Trailing 50-31 with 15:34 on the clock, Carolina went on an 8-2 spurt with 3s from Thornwell and Brian Steele to get within 13.
Down
15 with 9:25 Thornwell, the team’s second-leading scorer at that point
with nine, was called for his fourth foul and subsequently sent to the
bench. Williams continued to try and keep the Gamecocks in the game as
he knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers in four Carolina
possessions. The third one was the senior’s seventh on the day, passing
his previous career high of six he tied earlier this season against
Akron.
After a layup from Brown with 5:05 remaining gave the
Tigers a 71-55 advantage, Carolina went on a 12-2 run to cut the
deficit to six with just over a minute to go. The Tigers
converted 9-12 from the line down the stretch as they held on for
the 82-74 victory.
After only making seven field goals in the
first half, South Carolina made 16 in the second half as they shot 50
percent during the final 20 minutes, but its 39 percent (23-59) for the
game was not enough as Missouri shot 26-48 (54.2 percent). The Tigers
controlled the paint, outscoring the Gamecocks 34-16.
Thornwell
recorded 14 points and collected four rebounds and four assists before
fouling out late in the game for South Carolina. Ross added 14 points,
five rebounds and three assists for the Tigers.
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