South Carolina holds off Georgia rallies in 86-80 win
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A.J. Lawson and Chris Silva scored 19 points apiece as South Carolina ended a two-game losing streak with an 86-80 win over Georgia on Saturday.
Derek Ogbeide led Georgia (10-11, 1-7 SEC) with 16 points. Tyree Crump added 14.
The Gamecocks (11-10, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) never trailed, but had to fight off repeated comeback attempts by Georgia. The last one climaxed when a pair of free throws by Georgia’s William Jackson made the score 83-80 with just 1:06 to play, but the Bulldogs could not get the rebound off a missed shot by Carolina’s Hassan Gravett.
USC stays on the road in conference play, traveling to No. 7 Kentucky for a 7 p.m. tip Tuesday in Lexington. The garnet and black have not won at Big Blue’s house since the 2009 season.
KEY STATS
> South Carolina shot 56.9 percent (33-for-58) and was 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) in the second half alone on Saturday. The hot shooting day was the fifth highest field goal percentage in the Frank Martin era.
> The Gamecocks were 11-for-16 (68.8 percent) from 3, the second-highest percentage under Martin at Carolina since the team shot 73.3 percent (11-for-15) vs. Auburn on March 12, 2014.
> South Carolina built a 15-point lead in the first half, holding Georgia to 3-of-19 (16 percent) shooting the first 11 minutes.
NOTABLES
> Senior Chris Silva had 19 points and six rebounds, his 12th double-figure outing in the last 14 games.
> Freshman A.J. Lawson also tied with Silva for a game-high 19 points. The Toronto, Ontario, native had a team-high seven rebounds in 34 minutes. His 19 points mark his second highest scoring output in eight SEC games (had 24 in win at Vanderbilt (1/16/19).
> Redshirt senior guard Hassani Gravett had 13 off the bench. The Villa Rica, Ga., native went 3-of-4 from behind the arch in his return to his home state. Gravett now has 13 games this season with multiple 3s.
> Freshman Keyshawn Bryant also finished in double-figures with 11 in 30 minutes.
> Graduate transfer point guard Tre Campbell had nine points (3-of-5 from 3) and a career-high seven assists.
> Sophomore forward Felipe Haase had nine points (3-for-4 from deep). The Osorno, Chile, native went on a 9-0 run all by himself, putting Carolina up 13, 69-56, with 9:42 to go after making three consecutive shots from deep.
> The Gamecocks improve to 8-1 during the 2018-19 season when scoring 80 or more points.
