No. 21/19 South Carolina Defeated By Vanderbilt 71-62

Feb. 18, 2017

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 21/19 South Carolina (20-7, 10-4 SEC) was defeated 71-62 by Vanderbilt (14-13, 7-7 SEC) Saturday night at Memorial Gym. Senior Sindarius Thornwell recorded 21 points for his fourth straight game with 20-plus.

Carolina led 8-6 at the first media timeout with 15:08 to go after starting 4-for-7 (57 percent) from the field, all of its points coming in the paint. The Gamecocks made their sixth-straight basket as the lead grew to 12-9 with 14:09 on the clock. The score remained 12-9 at the under 12 media timeout with 11:37 to go.

The Commodores tied it at 12-12, and the teams exchanged hoops until the next media timeout with the score tied 18-18 with 6:26 left in the half. It was a slow-paced, physical game on both ends of the floor, as both squads were in the bonus with over 10 minutes left. Thornwell scored 10-straight points for Carolina as the Gamecocks opened up a 24-20 lead with 4:31 to go in the first half.

South Carolina remained in front 24-23 at the final media timeout with 2:11 to go. After Vanderbilt grabbed the lead, the Gamecocks went on a 6-0 run to go ahead 30-25 after an offensive rebound and basket by freshman Sedee Keita with 27 seconds left.

Matthew Fisher-Davis scored for the Commodores as time expired to make it 30-27 Carolina at halftime. Thornwell had 14 points at the break to lead all scorers. He was 4-for-8 from the field and 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the first half. Sophomore PJ Dozier had eight points on 4-of-9 shooting for Carolina. The Gamecocks were 12-of-28 (43 percent) in the first 20 minutes, while Vanderbilt was 9-for-23 (39 percent). The Commodores bench outscored South Carolina 15-2 in the opening half.

Vanderbilt opened a 40-36 lead in the second half, fueled by a 13-6 run and two 3-pointers by Riley LaChance. Frank Martin took a timeout with 16:19 on the clock and the Gamecocks were able to tie it, 40-40, after sophomore Chris Silva’s sixth point of the half.

South Carolina made four of its next five shots to jump ahead 49-46 with 12:06 remaining. Sophomore Hassani Gravett knocked down a jumper from the right baseline to give the Gamecocks their biggest lead of the game, 53-47, with 9:40 on the clock.

The Commodores stormed back to grab a 55-54 lead at the under eight media timeout with 7:26 left in the game. Another LaChance 3 put Vanderbilt up 64-58 at the final media timeout with 3:14 left.

South Carolina was unable to overcome the deficit, as the Commodores closed the game on a 24-9 run. Dozier had 15 points and Silva tallied 14 to join Thornwell in double figures for the Gamecocks. Fisher-Davis led the way for Vanderbilt with 17 points, as Vanderbilt shot 50 percent (11-for-22) from the floor and 44 percent from 3 (7-for-16) in the second half.

KEY STATS

The Commodores’ bench outscored Carolina 22-5. They also shot the ball well from deep, canning nine 3s, seven of which came in the second half.

NOTABLE

• Over the last four games, Thornwell has scored 120 points (30.0 avg.).
• The Lancaster, S.C. native, was perfect from the free throw line at 9-for-9.
• Silva tallied his ninth game in double figures in SEC play with his 15 points.
• Dozier’s seven rebounds matched his most in SEC play. He had seven in the conference opener at Georgia on Jan. 4.

UP NEXT

South Carolina continues its road swing at No. 15/13 Florida on Tuesday evening. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN with Joe Tessitore (pxp) and Sean Farnham (analyst) on the call. The Gamecocks won the first meeting between the two schools this season, posting a 57-53 win in Columbia on Jan. 18.

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