Smith’s 3 leads South Carolina past Ole Miss 63-62

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Eric Smith scored 12 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 25.1 seconds left, as South Carolina upset Mississippi 63-62 on Wednesday night.

The Rebels (19-7, 8-5 Southeastern Conference) led 62-56 with five minutes to go, but missed their last seven shots in a devastating loss for their NCAA tournament hopes.

South Carolina (13-13, 3-10 SEC), which began the night tied for last place in the SEC with Mississippi State, broke a six-game losing streak.

Ole Miss had two chances to win at the end, but Lakeem Jackson blocked Nick Williams’ layup with 0.9 seconds left and Marshal Henderson’s desperation 3-pointer was blocked by Laimonas Chatkevicius.

Murphy Holloway led the Rebels with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Henderson scored 11 points, but shot just 4-of-17 from the field, making just three of his 11 3-point attempts.