Gamecocks Late Rally Comes Up Shy at Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Filip Jovic scored a career-high 23 points and Auburn held off a last-minute rally by South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 71-67 on Saturday night.

Auburn led by six at halftime and held the lead throughout the second half. Back-to-back dunks by Sebastian Williams-Adams and Jovic gave the Tigers their first double-digit lead of the game, 60-49 with about 5 minutes remaining.

Two free throws by Mike Sharavjamts and a driving layup by Kobe Knox had the Gamecocks within 62-57 with 1:20 remaining before Kevin Overton’s 3-pointer put Auburn up 65-57 with 53 seconds left. USC got within three points twice, the second time on a layup by Sharavjamts with 17 seconds remaining.

After a pair of free throws from Keyshawn Hall, USC’s Meechie Johnson buried a 3-pointer to make it 69-67 with four seconds remaining. Overton then made two free throws to seal the win.

Jovic, a freshman from Bosnia & Herzegovina, made 9 of 12 shots and 5 of 8 free throws in his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season. KeShawn Murphy and Williams-Adams scored 11 points each for the Tigers (11-7, 2-3 SEC), who beat South Carolina for the 10th straight time.

Johnson scored 17 points, Sharavjamts 13, Knox 12 and Elijah Strong 10 for South Carolina (10-8, 1-4).

Although the Tigers missed seven of their first eight shots they still led 12-8 eight minutes into the game. A 3-pointer by Johnson had South Carolina within 21-19 but Tahaad Pettiford and Jovic converted three-point plays to push the margin to eight points. Auburn led 30-24 at halftime.

KEY STATS

• After a tough first half shooting, the Gamecocks responded well the final 20 minutes shooting 53.3% (16-of-30) and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from 3 in the second half to claw back from an 11-point deficit with just under 5 minutes to go.
• Turnovers (15) plagued Carolina for the second-straight game limiting opportunities on the offensive end of the floor.
• The Gamecocks, who entered the game No. 1 in the SEC and in the top-10 nationally, were also just 65.0% (13-of-20) from the foul line, a season-low foul shot percentage. It’s just the second time Carolina has shot below 70.0% at the charity stripe this season.

NOTABLES

• Redshirt senior guard Meechie Johnson put together another solid performance with 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. It’s his fourth-straight game in double figures and his third game in the stretch with a trio of 3s.
• Johnson now has nine games this season (26 career) with five or more assists.
• Freshman forward EJ Walker was a bright spot again with six points and four rebounds in a career-high 17 minutes off the bench. He hit a pair of 3s in the game at crucial moments.
• Redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox and graduate guard Myles Stute each had nine rebounds to lead the team. Stute’s nine boards were a season high.
• Knox got into double-figures with 12 points and was +5 in 31 minutes.
• Senior guard Mike Sharavjamts (13) and Elijah Strong (10) also finished in double-figures. Strong led Carolina in +/- as he was +7 in 26 minutes.
• Sharavjamts added a pair of blocks to his stat line, his fifth multi-block game of the season. Eleven of his points came in the second half as he scored in double-figures for the team-leading 13^th time this season.

UP NEXT
Carolina returns home to face Oklahoma (11-7, 1-4 SEC) at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) with Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call for the SEC  Network broadcast.

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