National Basketball Association
South Carolina 73, Florida 69
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 20, 2016
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials:
# Tim Gattis, # Antinio Petty, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance:
18000
By The Sports Xchange
Senior forward Michael Carrera had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three steals as South Carolina halted a seven-game losing streak against Florida by recording a 73-69 overtime victory Saturday at Columbia, S.C.
Junior guard Sindarius Thornwell added 17 points as the Gamecocks (22-5, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) improved to 14-1 at home. Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas had 14 points and senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius scored 13.
Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for Florida (17-10, 8-6). Sophomore forward Devin Robinson scored a career-best 17 points and sophomore guard Chris Chiozza had 11.
Carrera, who recorded his ninth double-double of the season, hit two free throws with 1:30 left in overtime to give South Carolina at 70-69 lead. Thornwell hit two free throws with 37.5 seconds remaining and the Gators missed the chance to tie it when Chiozza missed a 3-pointer with eight seconds left.
Earlier, Thornwell buried a 3-pointer with 2:28 left in regulation to give the Gamecocks a 62-60 lead but Florida sophomore center John Egbunu converted a three-point play 20 seconds later to give the Gators a one-point edge. Thornwell's fast break gave South Carolina a one-point lead with 30.5 seconds remaining before Finney-Smith split two free throws with 20 seconds left to knot the score 64-64 and force the extra session.
The Gamecocks blew a large first-half lead to help the Gators back in the game. Finney-Smith scored 11 points during a 22-0 burst that erased Florida's 17-point first-half deficit.
Sophomore guard Marcus Stroman hit a jumper to cap a 17-3 run and give the Gamecocks a 30-13 lead with 7:12 left in the first half but they missed their final nine field-goal attempts as Florida scored the final 20 points of the half. Finney-Smith had nine points during the half-ending surge and Robinson's 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left gave the Gators a 33-30 halftime lead.
Finney-Smith knocked down two free throws 12 seconds into the second half to end the spurt and Florida's lead reached 39-32 on a dunk by freshman forward Kevarrius Hayes with 18:17 to play. A short time later, Thornwell made two free throws to culminate a 7-0 run as South Carolina led 43-42 with 11:10 left.
Top Game Performances
| Florida |
|
South Carolina |
|
Dorian Finney-Smith 18 |
Scoring |
Michael Carrera 20 |
|
Kasey Hill 7 |
Assists |
Duane Notice 8 |
|
Dorian Finney-Smith 13 |
Rebounds |
Michael Carrera 15 |
|
KeVaughn Allen 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Sindarius Thornwell 6 |
|
KeVaughn Allen 1 |
Steals |
Michael Carrera 3 |
|
Devin Robinson 3 |
Blocks |
Michael Carrera 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Florida
|
69 |
36.9 |
9-32 |
12-15 |
19 |
38 |
7 |
4 |
15 |
| South Carolina
|
73 |
39.1 |
7-19 |
12-16 |
17 |
37 |
4 |
5 |
10 |
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