Gamecocks slog past Missouri behind Thornwell’s double-double
As Frank Martin said earlier in the season, it doesn’t matter how pretty it looked as long as it was a win.
South Carolina will definitely take Saturday’s 63-53 win at Missouri – and it definitely was not pretty.
The No. 23 Gamecocks got enough late offense to overcome the Tigers, stretching a seven-point lead to 11 in the final four minutes and holding on for a share of first place in the SEC. Kentucky and USC are tied for the lead at 7-1, although the Wildcats hold the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament.
Still, the Gamecocks (17-4, 7-1 SEC) were happy to get the win no matter what, after a shocking defeat last year at Mizzou Arena. That defeat heavily weighed into USC missing the NCAA tournament.
USC again had a slow start, spotting the Tigers (5-15, 0-8) the game’s first seven points. Freshman Rakym Felder floated the Gamecocks with 12 of his 13 points in the first half and Sindarius Thornwell notched his ninth career double-double (16 and 11 rebounds).
The rest of the Gamecocks’ offense was relying on the 3-pointer, a development caused by Missouri’s size on the interior and perhaps their success shooting them against Auburn. USC lifted 25 shots from the arc, converting nine, and only had 11 two-point field goals.
The Tigers’ Kevin Puryear again struggled against USC, scoring seven points, but Russell Woods scored 18, part of an attack that overwhelmed the Gamecocks in the paint. Missouri had 36 points in the lane.
P.J. Dozier had another quiet game, scoring seven second-half points but fighting foul trouble. Chris Silva had seven while Duane Notice canned three 3-pointers for his nine points.
It was the Tigers’ 13th straight SEC loss, their last win coming against USC last year. They are 0-16 against Power-5 conference teams this year and 0-13 against the Top 25 under embattled coach Kim Anderson.
The Gamecocks tip off at LSU at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
NOTE: Thornwell tied BJ McKie and Melvin Watson for first in program history with his 116th start.
This story was originally published January 29, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Gamecocks slog past Missouri behind Thornwell’s double-double."