MBB: South Carolina sinks Vanderbilt

South Carolina (12-7, 3-4) used a big second half to beat Vanderbilt (10-9, 2-5) 70-61.

For the second game in a row, South Carolina used a big second half run to take the lead. It wasn’t quite as dominant as the 24-0 run against Georgia, but South Carolina’s 15-1 run against Vanderbilt turned an 11-point deficit into a three-point lead. South Carolina made the run with defense, forcing six Vanderbilt turnovers and scoring 10 points off those turnovers.

In the first half, South Carolina was the team that couldn’t protect the ball. The Gamecocks committed ten turnovers, giving up 12 points, while getting just five points off five Vanderbilt turnovers. South Carolina switched to a zone defense and Vanderbilt ended up committing 11 turnovers on their 33 second-half possessions, leading to 18 points. South Carolina cleaned up its offense, turning the ball over just twice and not giving up a point.

“We went to the zone and they turned it over against the zone which allowed us to get out and run,” Frank Martin said. “The zone really helped us. The zone changed the way they played offensively. Most of their turnovers came against our zone.”

South Carolina kept Scotty Pippen, Jr., the SEC’s second-leading scorer, from going off in the first game, holding him to 17 points. He nearly matched that with 14 in the first half, and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. But South Carolina started trapping him in the second half and he finished with seven turnovers.

“We turned up our press a little bit, got some deflections, which got us some easy buckets in transition,” Erik Stevenson said. “I don’t think it was one play it was combination of our pressure on defense, getting some easy buckets, and making some tough ones in the half court.”

James Reese led South Carolina with 19 points and kept the Gamecocks in the game until his teammates found their groove. Jermaine Couisnard had 14 points, including six points during the run, plus five rebounds and four assists. Stevenson had 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

In addition to Couisnard, Josh Gray and A.J. Wilson had productive nights off the bench. Gray had four points, six rebounds, and three blocks. Wilson had four points, five rebounds, and two blocks. He had two critical offensive rebounds off missed free throws in the second half. One led to a dunk by Stevenson and the other he dunked himself. South Carolina finished with 31 points, 22 rebounds, and nine assists.

“There’s multiple guys that can help us,” Martin said. “The day that you’re not on edge, someone else is. That’s a good thing.”

South Carolina finished with a 41-29 rebounding advantage, including 15 offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points.

Notes:

South Carolina used 12 players in the first half alone. Only Tre-Vaughn Minott, Mike Green, Ja’von Benson, and Ford Cooper did not play. … Devin Carter started, but only played eight minutes and was scoreless with three turnovers. … In the first half South Carolina was 3-12 from three and 10-23 from two. … Keyshawn Bryant struggled with foul trouble and was scoreless in eight minutes. … South Carolina was just 9-21 from the foul line. Vanderbilt was 12-19. … Myles Stute, who scored 19 in the first meeting, was held to eight Wednesday night. … Pippen led Vanderbilt in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and turnovers. … Quentin Millora-Brown missed a pair of free throws with 1:59 left to earn a free chicken sandwich for everyone at the game. …Announced attendance was 8,786. … South Carolina’s next game is Saturday at Texas A&M.

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