Jan. 28, 2015

Final Stats

BATON ROUGE, LA. – The Carolina men’s basketball team’s recent offensive struggles continued on the road Wednesday night, as a strong interior defense from LSU would be the difference in a 64-58 loss. It is the third straight road loss for the Gamecocks, and drops its overall record to 10-9 and 1-6 in the SEC while the Tigers move to 16-4 and 5-2 in the conference.

The first half was competitive throughout despite a lengthy scoring drought from Carolina. Sindarius Thornwell scored seven of the team’s first nine points in the game. The teams traded baskets at a healthy clip through the first seven minutes, but slowed towards the midway point of the half.

Marcus Stroman gave the Gamecocks a 15-13 lead with 13:52 to play, but the team would go the next six minutes without a point. The Tigers would not take full advantage, scoring just seven points themselves in the same stretch thanks to Carolina’s effort on defense and on the glass. Michael Carrera would sink a free throw to snap the streak, and after missing his second try an offensive rebound would find Tyrone Johnson. The senior spotted up from 3 and sank his first of the game.

The Gamecocks would make 5-of-11 shots after the cold streak to close out the half, while holding LSU to just one make on nine attempts in the final six minutes to trail by just 29-28 at the break. Duane Notice would take over the scoring duties from Thornwell and led the team with nine points in the half.

The first five points out of halftime would be scored by Carolina, including a three from Michael Carrera. Owning a 43-39 lead with 13 minutes to play, the Gamecocks would fall victim to a 7-0 run by LSU and gave up the lead. It would counter with three straight baskets in the paint for Mindaugas Kacinas to retake the lead with eight minutes to play.

The Tigers would take a brief 52-51 lead, but a layup and another 3 from Carrera gave the Gamecocks the four-point lead. Bolstered by a tough interior defense, LSU would mount one final run to close out the game.

The hosts went on a 12-2 run over the final 2:45 to earn the win, and blocked four shots in the final 30 seconds to keep the Gamecocks from taking the road win, including two that would have either tied the game or put Carolina ahead. LSU made each of its final three field goal attempts in the game, and converted 5-of-6 free throws in the final 20 seconds.

GAME CHANGER

Carolina would not score in the final 1:40 of the game, allowing LSU to close with a 7-0 run in the same span to seal the win. The Gamecocks finished the game on a 1-of-7 cold streak from the floor.

KEY STAT The Tigers blocked 13 shots in the game, most notably with four coming in the final 30 seconds as the Gamecocks attempted to retake the lead. Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin each blocked six shots; only one other team blocked more than six shots this season against Carolina.

NOTABLES

• Junior forward Demetrius Henry and sophomore guard Justin McKie did not play vs. LSU due to concussions..
• After either setting or tying a season-high in rebounds in each of the last two games, Michael Carrera set yet another high mark for the season with 10 boards. Four would come on the offensive end.
• The 13 blocks were the most by any Carolina opponent this season. The previous high for an opponent was nine by Kentucky in the previous game.
• Tonight was the team’s first loss at the Pete Maravich Center since 2009. The loss evens the all-time series at 15.
• The Gamecocks owned a 19-7 advantage in offensive rebounds, but it only led to a 12-7 margin in second-chance points. Opponents are averaging just under six offensive rebounds per game in the last three contests.

QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach Frank Martin

On LSU’s Performance
“They are good, they are really good. Johnny (Jones) has a heck of a team. They are very talented and play extremely hard. (Keith) Hornsby and (Josh) Gray, as games progress, they have gotten use to play SEC basketball and with their team. (Tim) Quarterman has made a tremendous jump from his freshman year to his sophomore year. That’s what most guys do. You have those two big guys inside, and you compliment them by playing those guards. Then, you have the making of a real good basketball team.”

UP NEXT

South Carolina returns home to Colonial Life Arena to host RV/RV Georgia on Saturday. Game time for that contest is set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Georgia won both meetings between the two schools last season, including a 73-56 victory in Columbia.

TWEETS OF THE GAME