South Carolina’s defense dominated Georgia to start the game, and the Gamecocks beat the Bulldogs 75-59.
Georgia did not make its first basket for over seven minutes, starting the game 0-7. Over the first fifteen minutes of the game, South Carolina gradually built up a 27-5 lead. While South Carolina was shooting 50 percent from the floor, Georgia was 1-17 (5.9 percent), with nine turnovers. Those turnovers led to 14 South Carolina points, as the Gamecocks took advantage in the open court.
Georgia finally got a couple of baskets to fall around the five minute mark, and actually put together a 13-6 run. But, for the first of several occasions, South Carolina got a three from Jair Bolden to halt the spurt and put South Carolina back in control. South Carolina led by 18 at the half and held Georgia to 20 points in the first half, the Bulldogs’ lowest scoring half of the season.
The Bulldogs shot much better in the second half (44 percent), but continued to be plagued by turnovers. They had several short spurts. Each time, the Gamecocks got a three to end the run. A 6-0 Bulldog run was followed by a three by AJ Lawson. A 5-0 run that cut the lead to 14, the closest it got in the second half, was answered with a Jermaine Couisnard three. He made another as part of a 10-3 run that put the Gamecocks up 21 with 9:14 left. Couisnard followed his second three with a kiss, and the Bulldogs didn’t challenge again.
Lawson led all scorers with 20 points on 7-10 shooting. He also had four rebounds, three steals, and two assists, and didn’t settle for threes. It was Lawson’s first 10-point game in almost two months, since going for 20 at Clemson on December 15.
Three other Gamecocks finished in double figures. Couisnard had 14 points along with a game-high four assists. Keyshawn Bryant had 12 points and five rebounds, and Maik Kotsar stuffed the box score again. He had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Statistically, South Carolina controlled nearly every category. For the game, South Carolina shot 45 percent and held Georgia to 35 percent. Georgia only made 18 baskets, the second-fewest of the season. South Carolina went 6-17 from three and held Georgia to 3-24, its second-worst game of the season (the Bulldogs went 2-24 against Arizona State). South Carolina was plus-12 on the glass, and had more offensive and defensive rebounds than Georgia. And South Carolina had 25 points off 19 turnovers, while giving up just four points off 12 turnovers.
The Gamecocks also largely controlled the Bulldogs’ star freshman Anthony Edwards. Edwards had the flu last week, and at times he looked lethargic, but the Gamecocks made sure he didn’t get anything easy. Couisnard was the primary defender on Edwards and he got the better of the matchup. Edwards finished with 16 points, three below his season average, but he shot just 4-13 and was 0-7 from three. He tended to settle for threes, but had success when he drove, going 8-8 from the line. But that was about it, as Edwards had just two rebounds and one assist, below his season averages.
Notes:
After South Carolina emptied the bench, Georgia scored the final seven points of the game to make the final score closer than the game. … Alanzo Frink made his second consecutive start and had another solid game. He finished with three points, nine rebounds, three assists, and a steal. … Jalyn McCreary also quietly had a good game with eight points, five rebounds, two assists, a block, a steal, and of course four fouls. … Trae Hannibal had a career-high six rebounds along with four points. … The Gamecocks went 11-19 from the foul line. The Bulldogs went 20-26. … Jordan Harris had 10 points for Georgia. … Georgia freshman Christian Brown, a Hopkins, SC, native, played just two minutes. He missed his only shot and had no statistics. … Announced attendance was 8,857. … South Carolina’s next game is Saturday against Tennessee.
