Undermanned Missouri holds on to defeat Gamecocks
South Carolina lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and dealt its NCAA tournament hopes a severe blow with a 72-67 loss at Missouri on Tuesday.
The Tigers (10-16, 3-10 SEC) are in the SEC cellar, have voluntarily removed themselves from the SEC tournament because of NCAA violations and dismissed second-leading scorer Wes Clark just before the game for academics.
Yet they’ve won two straight after losing nine in a row, and if the Gamecocks (21-5, 8-5) end up missing an NCAA tournament bid that seemed locked in, it will be Missouri that started the slide.
Missouri senior Ryan Rosburg continued a stellar stretch of play, scoring 18 points with two free throws and a key block in the final 100 seconds. Rosburg blocked P.J. Dozier’s driving shot in a tie game and the rebound glanced off Mindaugas Kacinas and out of bounds. Terrence Phillips drove the lane, drew pressure and flipped the ball to a wide-open K.J. Walton for an easy layup.
A reviewed call gave the ball to Missouri, and USC couldn’t convert any shots to make it interesting.
The Gamecocks carried their shooting freeze from a loss to Kentucky to Columbia, starting the game 9-of-37 from the field. With their post game in shambles and their best scorers (Michael Carrera and Sindarius Thornwell) not challenging the Tigers’ paint defenders, USC settled for hurried outside shots that mostly missed.
Missouri scored in transition, denied USC rebounds and forced turnovers on the perimeter, leading to easy buckets. The Gamecocks came out hot from an eight-point deficit at halftime, seeing Dozier and Duane Notice cut the deficit to three, but Missouri responded with nine straight points, four from Rosburg on consecutive transition layups.
It was the theme of the second half – the Gamecocks again cut it to three with under 11 minutes to play, but Laimonas Chatkevicius turned it over inside and committed his fourth foul on the other end to allow two free throws. Notice missed a rushed 3, Missouri hit a 3-point play, then turned another USC miss into a Rosburg layup. The Gamecocks missed their next seven shots.
USC’s top two scorers, Carrera and Thornwell, were a combined 6-of-22 for 23 points.
The Gamecocks host Florida at noon on Sunday.
SOUTH CAROLINA (21-5)
Thornwell 2-11 4-4 9, Dozier 5-14 2-2 12, Carrera 4-11 5-6 14, Kacinas 0-1 0-0 0, Silva 1-3 2-2 4, Stroman 0-0 0-0 0, Doby 0-3 0-2 0, Gregory 1-2 1-2 3, Notice 8-14 0-0 21, Chatkevicius 1-7 2-2 4, Cobb 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-66 16-20 67.
MISSOURI (10-16)
Phillips 4-9 5-6 15, Wright 2-7 5-5 11, Puryear 0-2 2-2 2, VanLeer 2-9 0-0 4, Rosburg 5-8 8-17 18, Isabell 4-7 2-2 10, Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Walton 2-3 5-6 10, Barton 0-0 0-0 0, Gant 1-5 0-0 2, Woods 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 27-38 72.
Halftime—Missouri 33-25. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 7-19 (Notice 5-7, Carrera 1-4, Thornwell 1-5, Dozier 0-1, Chatkevicius 0-1, Kacinas 0-1), Missouri 5-21 (Wright 2-4, Phillips 2-5, Walton 1-2, Gant 0-1, Puryear 0-1, Isabell 0-1, VanLeer 0-7). Fouled Out—Chatkevicius, Puryear. Rebounds—South Carolina 39 (Carrera 10), Missouri 46 (Phillips, Wright 7). Assists—South Carolina 10 (Thornwell 5), Missouri 10 (Phillips 4). Total Fouls—South Carolina 25, Missouri 21. A—5,017.
This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 9:12 PM.