Feb. 27, 2016

Final Stats | USATSI Gallery

STARKVILLE, MS. – The South Carolina men’s basketball team lost on the road at Mississippi State (13-15, 6-10 SEC) Saturday afternoon, 68-58. The Bulldogs’ pressure on defense would earn them an early lead and the Gamecocks (23-6, 10-6) would not be able to recover. Sindarius Thornwell led the team in scoring with 12 points.

Mississippi State came out well-coordinated on defense from the tip, sagging to double on the post and jumping out on the passing lanes early and often. The Gamecocks were forced into three early turnovers and the Bulldogs scored off all three to take a 13-4 lead and force a timeout. Points on the next two possessions from Michael Carrera and Thornwell cut the deficit to five, but the home side reeled off a 12-1 run in just over five minutes to take its largest lead of the half at 25-9.

At the halftime break, Mississippi State held a 37-26 lead. Duane Notice led the team with eight points, but the Gamecocks made just 9-of-30 shots (30 percent) while the Bulldogs enjoyed a 56 percent success rate (15-of-27).

The double-digit advantage would continue to star the final stanza, and MSU would push ahead as far as 17 (50-33). South Carolina cut back in to single digits in the waning minutes of regulation, but would get no closer than eight the rest of the way. Thornwell scored 10 second-half points.

GAMECHANGER

The Bulldogs executed on both ends of the court to earn a comfortable lead in the first half, hitting 15 of their first 25 shots and finishing the half at 56 percent.

KEY STAT

The Gamecocks committed 21 turnovers in the game, a new season high. Mississippi State was able to turn that into 24 points off turnovers, another season high for Carolina opponents.

UP NEXT

South Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena next Thursday for its final home game of the 2015-16 regular season when Georgia travels to Columbia. Senior night festivities will take place at approximately 6:50 p.m. for Carolina’s senior quartet of forwards, Michael Carrera, Laimonas Chatkevicius, Mindaguas Kacinas and Brian Steele, as well as managers Robert Holmes, Pat Leyden and Dylan Stiles. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. ET with the contest broadcast on ESPN.

NOTABLE

• Michael Carrera finished with six points and eight rebounds in the game. It was the first time he did not reach double figures in scoring since Jan. 16, a span of 11 games.
• Marcus Stroman returned to action after missing the Tennessee game with an illness.
• After scoring 10 points today, Duane Notice needs just five points to reach 1,000 for his career. He would be the third Gamecock to reach the milestone this season, joining Sindarius Thornwell and Michael Carrera.