South Carolina MBB falls in overtime against LSU. What we saw

After the worst loss in the Lamont Paris era — a 95-48 beating Wednesday at the hands of Florida — few subsequent home matchups would have brought South Carolina men’s basketball more relief than a team it had already beaten on the road.

The LSU Tigers came to Columbia for a rematch against the Gamecocks on a snowy Saturday afternoon. USC took a 78-68 win in Baton Rouge on Jan. 6. And even better for USC, the Tigers were once again without leading scorer Dedan Thomas and Jalen Reed, while USC was fully healthy.

This time, it wouldn’t be so simple. The Tigers came out ready for revenge, and the Gamecocks battled from behind after never leading in the first half. The lead changed eight times in the second half.

After needing an overtime period to settle the matchup at Colonial Life Arena, the season sweep wasn’t in the cards for USC.

The Gamecocks fell 92-87 to a hot-shooting LSU team (14-8, 2-7 SEC) despite showing some late-game fight that Paris has pleaded for at many points this season.

With the loss, the Gamecocks are 11-10 overall (2-6 SEC). Paris, meanwhile, has a 60-60 record in nearly four seasons as USC’s head coach.

“I felt bad for the guys. Grueling. Two teams fought really hard,” Paris said. “Both really wanted and needed to win, and (we) just weren’t able to do it.”

First-half finish

USC came out a bit sluggish in the first half, missing all of its first four 3-point attempts and four its first 10 shots total. LSU, on the other hand, jumped out to a 13-point lead with eight minutes left in the period.

“I thought our urgency was much better,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “Just thought it was a really balanced game for us on the offensive side, and just proud of our players for the response.”

Then the Gamecocks got hot.

With the help of 23 combined first-half points from the starting guard trio of Meechie Johnson, Mike Sharavjamnts and Kobe Knox, the Gamecocks eventually turned a 12-2 run on 5-of-10 shooting and forced three LSU turnovers over the next four minutes.

After a last-second layup from Johnson to close the half, the Gamecocks trailed 36-35.

Second-half surge, overtime finish

In the second half, the Gamecocks were able to carry over their hot finish into a hot start. After missing the first four attempts out of the locker room, USC knocked down the next three shots and made four of its subsequent 10. Freshman guard Eli Ellis surged with 11 points (and two made 3-pointers) as USC shot 43.3% from the floor and 41.7% from three in the second half.

While USC was shooting comfortably, it wasn’t enough to run away with the score. The Tigers continued to make shots at even greater efficiency than the Gamecocks in the second half (55.6% from the floor). The lead changed eight times in the second half after not changing once in the first.

In overtime, LSU outscored USC 14-10 for the win. USC was charged with six fouls in overtime and was out-rebounded 18-16.

“We had opportunities in the second half. … But you know, just we didn’t make some plays. If you look at the real waning moments of the game, we didn’t make some plays, and combined with some free throw shooting, oftentimes, that’s the difference in these close games.,” Paris said.

Meechie Johnson stacking points

While USC has its ups and downs as a team, Johnson has slowly settled into the best year of his six seasons in college.

Johnson, who transferred either to or from USC and to or from Ohio State three times from 2022-25, is averaging a career-high 15.4 points and 4.1 assists for the Gamecocks.

Before SEC play, Johnson had more games with five points or fewer than he had games with 20 points or more. Since the conference slate began Jan. 3, he’s logged four 20-plus performances and two games with 19 and 17 points. He finished with 21 points against LSU, including 14 in the second half and overtime.

Johnson was inches away from hitting a 60-foot game winner in regulation.

South Carolina men’s basketball upcoming games

• Tuesday: at Texas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Feb. 7: vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Feb. 14: at Alabama, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Feb. 17: at Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

This story was originally published January 31, 2026 at 3:32 PM.