South Carolina rally falls short as OSU edges Gamecocks in SEC/Big 12 Challenge
.JPG "Oklahoma State’s Lindy Waters shoots a 3-point shot over South Carolina’s Felipe Haase during an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Stillwater, Okla. (Devin Lawrence Wilber/Tulsa World via AP)")
Playing on the road with your best player in foul trouble. South Carolina had been there before.
The Gamecocks were used to the situation they found themselves in Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They were forced to battle Oklahoma State for chunks of the second half with Chris Silva mostly glued to the bench.
But unlike what happened last week at Vanderbilt, USC couldn’t come through.
The Cowboys edged the Gamecocks, 74-70, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
USC dropped to 10-9. OSU, coached by former Gamecock player Mike Boynton, improved to 9-11. South Carolina missed seven of its final eight shots.
“It’s not what went wrong down the stretch,” Carolina coach Frank Martin said in a radio interview with the Gamecock IMG Sports Network. “It’s what went wrong the whole game. It was our inability to play connected to the things that we have been working on, trying to get good at.
“We were really bad defensively. On offense, we never once executed anything that we tried to run. And then our guards were just unbelievably passive. When teams play wide zone, your guards have to attack the zone and our guards were not attacking.”
Silva led the Gamecocks with 15 points and nine rebounds. A.J. Lawson added 12 points and Keyshawn Bryant had 10.
Carolina shot 38.8 percent from the field and made nine of 26 3-point attempts. Martin said USC’s Friday practice was its worst since November.
“We were disengaged mentally,” Martin said. “We were not good. And you don’t go in the Big 12 and win in one of these buildings against a Big 12 team if you’re not mentally connected.”
Silva, USC’s All-SEC forward, picked up his fourth foul with 13:06 left in the second half. The Gamecocks were down 50-42. But when Silva checked back in seven minutes later, Carolina was only down a point.
The Gamecocks, playing an equally depleted team in OSU (eight scholarship players), showed the kind of fight that’s defined them since January began. A Bryant free throw with 6:53 left put Carolina up one.
The game featured 22 lead changes, but Oklahoma State held the advantage over the final 5:18. It was 70-65 with under 90 seconds left until Silva hit a pair of FTs to trim things to three.
Silva and Kotsar trapped OSU’s Cameron McGriff on the next possession, forcing a turnover. The Gamecocks couldn’t capitalize, however, as Felipe Haase missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer.
The Cowboys got 19 points from Thomas Dziagwa. They made more free throws (23) than the Gamecocks attempted (nine).
“We never attacked the zone,” Martin said. “If you don’t attack the zone, the zone keeps you out on the sidelines. And if you don’t attack the zone and you just pass it around and shoot Hail Marys over the top of the zone, you’re not gonna go to the foul line.”
Oklahoma State led by as many as 12 in the first half before cooling off. The Cowboys made seven of their 12 shots and went up 26-14 at the 9:15 mark. They ended the period missing 12 of their 14 field goal attempts.
It all allowed the Gamecocks to stage a mini-rally. A Silva-led 8-0 run cut things to 28-25 with 4:13 left. OSU lead 33-28 at the break as the Gamecocks went the opening 20 minutes without attempt a free throw.
Lawson took Carolina’s first attempt from the line at the 18:41 mark of the second half.
The Gamecocks next welcome No. 1 Tennessee to Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday.
Box score
OKLAHOMA ST. 74, SOUTH CAROLINA 70
SOUTH CAROLINA (10-9)
Kotsar 4-8 0-0 8, Bryant 3-7 3-3 10, Silva 6-13 2-2 15, Campbell 3-8 0-0 8, Lawson 4-11 2-2 12, Frink 2-3 0-0 4, Haase 1-6 2-2 5, Hinson 0-2 0-0 0, Gravett 3-9 0-0 8. Totals 26-67 9-9 70.
OKLAHOMA ST. (9-11)
Anei 3-6 2-3 8, McGriff 4-8 6-7 14, Likekele 2-5 3-6 7, Waters 5-13 4-4 17, Dziagwa 6-12 2-3 19, Demuth 0-0 2-2 2, Major 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-8 4-4 7. Totals 21-52 23-29 74.
Halftime: Oklahoma St. 33-28. 3-Point Goals: South Carolina 9-26 (Campbell 2-5, Lawson 2-5, Gravett 2-8, Bryant 1-2, Silva 1-2, Haase 1-3, Hinson 0-1), Oklahoma St. 9-27 (Dziagwa 5-9, Waters 3-7, Jones 1-7, Likekele 0-1, McGriff 0-3). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: South Carolina 37 (Silva 9), Oklahoma St. 30 (Anei 11). Assists: South Carolina 14 (Bryant 5), Oklahoma St. 13 (Likekele 6). Total Fouls: South Carolina 22, Oklahoma St. 13.
NEXT GAME
Who: Tennessee at South Carolina
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 4:07 PM with the headline "South Carolina rally falls short as OSU edges Gamecocks in SEC/Big 12 Challenge."
