Bryant, defense help South Carolina beat Georgia 83-59

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Keyshawn Bryant had his first double-double of the season and South Carolina’s defense smothered Georgia in the Gamecocks’ 83-59 win on Wednesday night.

Bryant finished with 19 points, a season-high 10 rebounds and a career-best tying three steals. Jermaine Couisnard added 18 points, AJ Lawson scored 12 points and Justin Minaya 10.

Bryant scored all his 11 first-half points during a 21-4 run that gave South Carolina (4-5, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) the lead for good, and made it 32-19 when Lawson hit a 3-pointer with 3:17 left before the break. Andrew Garcia made a layup to trim Georgia’s deficit to 41-35 with 16:38 to play. Couisnard answered with a 3-pointer before Bryant made two free throws and Minaya hit a 3 in an 8-2 spurt, and the Bulldogs trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Freshman K.D. Johnson scored 13 points and Garcia finished with 10 for Georgia (9-6, 2-6).

The Bulldogs made six of their first 13 shot and led 14-8 after Sahvir Wheeler hit a jumper with 11:33 left in the first half, but shot just 28% (15-of-53) the rest of the way. The Gamecocks defense contested jumpers, challenged shots at the rim and forced three Georgia shot-clock violations. The Bulldogs made just 4-of-26 from 3-point range in their lowest scoring game of the season.

Bryant, a 6-foot-6 junior who missed most of December and half of January for undisclosed reasons, is averaging 22.0 points in four games since returning.

South Carolina snapped a three-game skid.

KEY STATS
> The Gamecocks shot lights out in the second half (19-for-35 FGs, 54.3 percent; 6-for-11 3FGs, 54.5 percent).
> The Carolina defense was locked in from the start, limiting Georgia to 31.8 percent shooting (21-for-66), including 15.4 percent (4-for-26) from 3-point territory.

NOTABLES
> Junior forward Keyshawn Bryant tallied his first double-double of the season with a game high 19 points and 10 rebounds. It was the fourth double-double of his career.
> The Gamecocks hit 9-of-19 attempts from beyond the arc vs. the Bulldogs, 47.4%, the team’s best percentage of the season from distance.
> Junior forward AJ Lawson hit a trio of 3s, marking his sixth game this season with three or more makes from beyond the arc. For the year, he is averaging 2.88 made 3s per game.
> Redshirt sophomore Jermaine Couisnard also hit a trio of 3s as he scored 18 points, his seventh double-figuring scoring output of the 2020-21 season.
> Redshirt junior forward Justin Minaya collected eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. He continues to pace the Gamecocks with 7.9 rebounds per game this season (8.6 per game in league play).
> Tonight’s win over Georgia marks Carolina’s ninth-straight win over the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
After two straight at home, the Gamecocks are back on the road for a pair beginning with a weekend trip to Vanderbilt (4-8, 0-6 SEC). Tip time on Saturday is set for 8:30 p.m. ET vs. the Commodores at Memorial Gym in Nashville with the matchup set for broadcast on the SEC Network.

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