South Carolina battles but falls short at Mississippi State
In the end, the miscues proved too much for South Carolina men’s basketball.
Maik Kotsar did yeoman’s work to keep his Gamecocks in the thick of it. Mississippi State kept hitting tough shots or taking advantage of trips to the line. In Starkville’s Humphrey Coliseum, the visitors battled back over and over all the way to the end, but could never get all the way there.
USC fell in the final seconds 79-76 to the Bulldogs. South Carolina (16-10, 8-5 SEC) cut the lead down right at the end with a grinding comeback.
“We scrapped at the end and give ourselves a chance,” Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said. “But defensively our guards were really bad. Mississippi State got the ball wherever they wanted to.”
USC was within a point with under seven seconds left but MSU fouled after free throws and the Gamecocks couldn’t get a rebound after an intentionally missed free throw trialing by two.
The Gamecocks last won at Mississippi State in 2017, Ben Howland’s second year.
USC started the second half with a little burst, getting to within five, but the hosts managed to widen the gap. The Gamecocks cut it down from an 11-point lead to 4 with 12 minutes left, but MSU (17-9, 8-5) kept things just at bay.
South Carolina delivered a battle for much of the first half, riding Kotsar and his blazing hot start. The senior center connected on his first seven shots, at one point pulling USC within a point at 21-20.
But miscues, sporadic shooting and an accumulation of fouls caught up with the Gamecocks. They coughed up 10 turnovers and sent MSU to the line 13 times, where they connected on 11.
At the break, South Carolina had done a solid job corralling an excellent MSU offense, but were simply undone as the starting backcourt went 1 for 7 from 3 and USC struggled to find tertiary scorers.
Kotsar finished with a game-high 24 points, one short of a career high he set last season. He also played a big role in holding prolific MSU big man Reggie Perry to 10 points and 2 of 8 shooting.
“Offensively (I) had a few, few opportunities, where I was able to make them,” Kotsar said. “The guys were looking for me on the step downs, on the screens and stuff, which we we have worked on and had those opportunities today. Still should have converted a little bit more was a bit short.”
Martin lamented the turnovers (15) and the fouls (34) that led to 36 free throws. MSU hits nearly 3/4s of its free throws on average, and it had a 14-point edge from the stripe. With that in mind, Martin said his team needed 3s.
It went 4 of 17 from beyond the arc.
The loss, in which South Carolina was at least a five-point underdog, was probably the Gamecocks’ longest shot game for the rest of the regular season. It cost them a chance at a high quality win that could matter come tournament time, but those games are usually the difficult ones, especially away from home.
The Gamecocks return to Colonial Life Arena to take on LSU, which is in a tie for second place in the conference. South Carolina would’ve joined the Tigers in that tie had it won Wednesday.
Note:
▪ Former South Carolina football assistant Steve Spurrier Jr., son of former Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier, was spotted in the arena after the game. He followed Mike Leach from Washington State to the Bulldogs this offseason.
Box score
SOUTH CAROLINA (16-10): Bryant 3-9 0-0 6, Frink 1-3 1-3 3, Kotsar 11-17 2-2 24, Couisnard 4-11 9-12 17, Lawson 4-10 2-2 12, Leveque 3-4 0-0 6, Hannibal 1-3 0-0 2, Bolden 2-3 0-0 6, Moss 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 14-19 76.
MISSISSIPPI ST. (17-9): Ado 5-6 4-7 14, Perry 2-8 6-7 10, Stewart 5-7 4-5 16, Weatherspoon 5-10 8-9 18, Woodard 3-5 1-2 9, Carter 3-9 2-2 9, Molinar 0-1 3-4 3, Feazell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 28-36 79.
Halftime—Mississippi St. 36-27. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 4-17 (Bolden 2-3, Lawson 2-7, Hannibal 0-1, Kotsar 0-1, Couisnard 0-5), Mississippi St. 5-12 (Stewart 2-2, Woodard 2-3, Carter 1-6, Perry 0-1). Fouled Out—Bryant, Couisnard, Ado. Rebounds—South Carolina 29 (Kotsar, Lawson 7), Mississippi St. 32 (Perry 10). Assists—South Carolina 17 (Kotsar 4), Mississippi St. 14 (Weatherspoon 6). Total Fouls—South Carolina 24, Mississippi St. 18. A—6,281 (10,575).
NEXT
What: LSU at South Carolina
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 11:17 PM.
