National Basketball Association
South Carolina 81, Mississippi St. 68
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 28, 2015
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials:
# Ron Groover, # Antinio Petty, # Brian Shey
Attendance:
14022
By SportsDirect Inc.
South Carolina 81, Mississippi State 68: Tyrone Johnson scored a career-high 28 points as the Gamecocks turned away the visiting Bulldogs in a battle for SEC positioning.
Laimonas Chatkevicius matched his season high with 18 points and added nine rebounds for South Carolina (14-14, 5-11 SEC), which pulled even for 11th place in the conference, one game behind 10th-place Tennessee. Duane Notice contributed 13 points for the Gamecocks.
Craig Sword scored 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed eight boards to lead Mississippi (12-17, 5-11). Gavin Ware scored 10 points for the Bulldogs, who have dropped four in a row and six of seven.
Notice knocked down a 3-pointer to give South Carolina a 25-15 lead with just over 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half and connected again from beyond the arc to send the Gamecocks into the break up 39-31. The Bulldogs shot 59.1 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes but went 2-of-8 from the free-throw line.
I.J. Ready split a pair at the line to pull Mississippi State within 43-38 with over 17 minutes left, but Chatkevicius scored seven during a 9-0 burst to spread it back out. Johnson’s free throws made it a 59-41 gap with 12 1/2 minutes to play and the Bulldogs had a late run fall short.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Gamecocks entered last in the SEC in field-goal percentage at 39.9 but shot 46.3 percent against the Bulldogs. … The teams are tied for 11th place and need to jump to 10th to avoid having to play on the first day of the SEC tournament. … South Carolina went 23-of-34 from the line while Mississippi State finished 19-of-29.
Top Game Performances
| Mississippi St. |
|
South Carolina |
|
Craig Sword 26 |
Scoring |
Tyrone Johnson 28 |
|
I.J. Ready 7 |
Assists |
Duane Notice 5 |
|
Craig Sword 8 |
Rebounds |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 9 |
|
Craig Sword 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Tyrone Johnson 13 |
|
Oliver Black 1 |
Steals |
Sindarius Thornwell 2 |
|
Craig Sword 1 |
Blocks |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mississippi St.
|
68 |
47.8 |
5-15 |
19-29 |
11 |
26 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
| South Carolina
|
81 |
46.3 |
8-24 |
23-34 |
19 |
29 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
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