National Basketball Association
South Carolina 63, Missouri 54
When: 9:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Ron Groover, # Anthony Jordan, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
10039
By SportsDirect Inc.
South Carolina 63, Missouri 54: Sindarius Thornwell had 18 points and six assists to lead the Gamecocks to a win in the first round of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Michael Carrera scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for the No. 11 seed Gamecocks (16-15), who will meet sixth-seeded Mississippi in the second round Thursday. Duane Notice chipped in nine points and five assists as South Carolina nearly led wire-to-wire.
Montaque Gill-Caesar led No. 14 seed Missouri (9-23) with 10 points while Johnathan Williams III had nine and 11 rebounds to help the Tigers claim a 35-26 advantage on the boards. Missouri shot 36 percent and had 16 turnovers while wrapping up its first losing season since 2005-06.
Thornwell made a 3-pointer and Laimonas Chatkevicius hit a jumper to give South Carolina a 30-17 lead late in the first half but Missouri scored the final seven points before halftime and pulled within 32-29 on Namon Wright's three-point play just over a minute into the second half. Thornwell hit another triple, added two free throws and assisted on a dunk by Mindaugas Kacinas to bump the Gamecocks' lead to 44-35 with just over 12 minutes to go.
The Tigers responded with a 12-5 burst and were within three points with six minutes to go, but Tyrone Johnson's basket and Thornwell's fourth 3-pointer pushed the gap out to 59-51 with under five minutes left. Missouri, which had a span of nearly nine minutes without a field goal down the stretch, trailed by as many as 12 just before the final horn.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers senior G Keith Shamburger did not start due to disciplinary reasons. ... Johnson led the Gamecocks with seven rebounds and two steals. ... South Carolina lost 65-49 at Mississippi in the only meeting between the teams this season.
Top Game Performances
Missouri |
|
South Carolina |
Montaque Gill-Caesar 10 |
Scoring |
Sindarius Thornwell 18 |
Keith Shamburger 4 |
Assists |
Sindarius Thornwell 6 |
Johnathan Williams III 11 |
Rebounds |
Tyrone Johnson 7 |
Johnathan Williams III 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Marcus Stroman 5 |
Keith Shamburger 2 |
Steals |
Tyrone Johnson 2 |
Ryan Rosburg 1 |
Blocks |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Missouri
|
54 |
36.0 |
4-16 |
14-20 |
9 |
33 |
2 |
7 |
16 |
South Carolina
|
63 |
45.7 |
7-19 |
14-20 |
17 |
24 |
3 |
5 |
11 |