Almost ... again: South Carolina MBB’s comeback bid falls short against No. 19 Ole Miss
Another ranked opponent in the SEC, another last-minute loss and gut punch for the Gamecocks.
This time the South Carolina men’s basketball team ran out of juice, losing to No. 19 Ole Miss, 72-68, at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday.
“It’s difficult to know what to say to the guys to connect to them, because now it’s frustrating for me,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “But more than frustration, I feel a sense of empathy for them and what they’re going through. And for young people, it’s not that easy sometimes to bounce back and be as chipper as you need to be in order to go out and win another game.”
It was USC’s sixth loss this season by five points or less, another late-game heartbreak. The Gamecocks’ last five home games — all against top-20 teams — have come down to the final 10 seconds, with the Gamecocks falling in each game by a combined 17 points.
“It’s a lot of emotions, to be honest, going into the last stretch of the game and knowing that we don’t have a win under our belt,” Collin Murray-Boyles said of the team’s mindset in the final seconds of close games. “I think we just get really, I won’t say emotional, but we really start to lock in as a team. ... But the game normally doesn’t come down to just the last minute. We’ve messed up a lot throughout the whole game.”
Ole Miss (19-6, 8-4 SEC) was in control most of the game, leading USC (10-14, 0-11 SEC) for 34 minutes, 22 seconds of game time. But after trailing by as many as 13, the Gamecocks fought back in the second half and took the lead with 6:55 left on the clock.
The Rebels. however, made key shots down the stretch, including a bank-shot layup by Dre Davis with 22 seconds left. USC’s Murray-Boyles missed a layup on the ensuing possession, and Zach Davis threw it out of bounds after the offensive rebound — sealing the Ole Miss win.
Murray-Boyles led USC with 20 points, six rebounds, three blocks and one steal. Nick Pringle had 12 points, while Jamarii Thomas added 11 points and four rebounds.
Rebels go on early run
USC opened with confidence, sinking three of its first four shots and keeping a clean handle on the ball.
Then the Rebels hit the gas. A 16-4 Ole Miss run flipped the game early, fueled by three Gamecock turnovers and a cold spell that saw USC miss four of its next five shots.
Each time the Gamecocks made a push, Ole Miss had an answer — usually from deep range. The Rebels torched the nets, drilling 6-of-9 3-pointers (67%) and shooting a blistering 65% overall in the first half. They finished 8 of 13.
USC wasn’t bad offensively in the first half — 44% from the field with an efficient 1.03 points per possession — but Ole Miss was simply better. Still, the Gamecocks did enough to stay within reach, limiting turnovers (five) and preventing second chances by not allowing a single offensive rebound before halftime.
Second-half shakeup
For all the shot-making in the first half, the second half was a different story.
Ole Miss misfired on 14 of its first 18 shots after the break, giving USC an opening. Paris said he just told his guys to focus on staying in front of the ball after the break.
But more than that, he thinks the flow of the game slowed the Rebels down. At some point, they had to start missing after starting as hot as they did.
The Gamecocks weren’t exactly shooting lights out either — just 5-of-14 in that same stretch — but they made up for it at the free-throw line, knocking down 12-of-17 in the half.
Then came the run.
Trailing by seven with just over 12 minutes left, USC rattled off a 12-4 surge to take its first lead since the opening minutes. The crowd roared. The momentum shifted.
But with the game up for grabs, Ole Miss forward Malik Dia rattled off 12 straight Rebel points to keep the Gamecocks at bay.
Ole Miss shot 31.3% after the break, bringing its overall shooting percentage down to 45.5%. USC shot 44%.
One chippy game
From the jump, this one had some extra bite.
The first flash of intensity came when Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk took a hard fall after getting fouled on a dunk attempt in transition.
A few minutes later, things really boiled over. Driving to the rim, Thomas got tangled up with Ole Miss forward Mikeal Brown-Jones, who put him in a brief headlock. After a review, the officials called it a common foul and hit Brown-Jones and Davis with offsetting technical fouls. The second tech (on Davis) was for retaliation after the play, Paris said after the game.
By halftime, the teams had racked up a combined 20 fouls. The Gamecocks shot 32 free throws, their second-most this season.
Next four games
- Saturday: at Florida, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 18: at LSU, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 22: vs Texas, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Feb. 25: at Missouri, 9 p.m. (ESPN2 or ESPNU)
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 9:20 PM.
