Gamecocks Drop Another Tight Battle, 65-60, in OT to No. 14/14 Miss. State

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Josh Hubbard’s two foul shots with 56.5 seconds left in overtime rescued No. 14 Mississippi State for a 65-60 victory over South Carolina after blowing a 14-point lead in the last nine minutes of regulation on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) held a 50-36 lead with 8:50 to play, but the Gamecocks rallied to tie things when Zachary Davis picked up a ball bobbled by Cameron Matthews and took it in to tie the game at 55-all with 26.1 seconds to go.

Alabama transfer Nick Pringle looked like he had tied it again after Hubbard’s foul shots with an inside basket. But it was waived off for basket interference.

Riley Kugel had 15 points to lead Mississippi State.

The Gamecocks (10-10, 0-7) lost a second home heartbreaker in a week, falling to No. 5 Florida on Wednesday night 70-69 after holding a 14-point lead in the second half.

Jamarii Thomas led South Carolina with 19 points.

KEY STATS

• South Carolina shot a season-low 29.3 percent (17-of-58) from the floor, the third-lowest field goal percentage in the Lamont Paris era at South Carolina.
• The Gamecocks stayed in the game however with 22 makes at the foul line and a 45-30 edge in the rebound column. Carolina’s 21 offensive rebounds today tied the most in the last three seasons under Paris (also had 21 in a win over VMI last season on Nov. 13, 2023).
• Carolina was just 4-of-20 (20.0%) from behind the arc.

NOTABLES

• Senior transfer guard Jamarii Thomas returned to action today after missing the last four games with a right knee sprain. He scored a game-high 19 points off the bench. Thomas was 10-of-12 at the charity stripe.

• Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles had his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
• Redshirt freshman guard Arden Conyers had another game in double figures with 12 points off the bench. He went 9-of-10 at the free throw line, new career highs in foul shots made and foul shots attempted.
• Today was the fifth game this season Carolina has made 20 or more free throws in a game (entered today 4-0 in those games).
• The Gamecocks ended regulation on a 19-5 run to force overtime.

UP NEXT

South Carolina hits the road for a midweek tilt at Georgia (14-6, 2-5 SEC) next Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at Stegeman Coliseum with Rich Hollenberg (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.

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