It required an extra session to decide, but the wait continues.

South Carolina men’s basketball is still looking for its first win in SEC play after dropping its seventh consecutive game, yet another heartbreaker at Colonial Life Arena just three days after it dropped a one-point game against Florida. South Carolina ripped off a spirited rally to erase a 14-point deficit in the final seven minutes and force overtime, but No. 14 Mississippi State prevailed 65-60 in the extra frame.

"If it doesn't break you it'll make you stronger," Lamont Paris said. "And it hasn't broken our guys. And I see that because we've had a stretch of games that have all been against super high quality teams, they've been really close, down to the wire, nitty-gritty type scenarios and all have not gone our way."

Both teams hit just one shot in the first four minutes of overtime, but Mississippi State (16-4, 4-3 SEC) took the lead on two Josh Hubbard free throws with just under a minute too go. The next possession was the critical moment of the game, a microcosm of all the frustration this season has been for South Carolina (10-10, 0-7).

Forward Nick Pringle missed a layup, and appeared to tip it back in to tie the game with 35.4 seconds left.

Quick whistle. No basket. Mississippi State Ball.

Pringle tipped the ball while it was still above the cylinder, resulting in an offensive goaltending call that wiped the tying bucket off the board and forced the Gamecocks to foul on the next trip down. Claudell Harris Jr. made both free throws to make it a two-possession game, and the Gamecocks never got another possession with an opportunity to tie the game again.

This was the latest in a line of all-too familiar endings for South Carolina. A three-point loss to Auburn, another three-point loss on a buzzer-beater at Vanderbilt, the one-point loss to Florida and now this one means four of the seven conference games have been in doubt down to the final possession, but the record is unmistakable.

South Carolina is 0-7 in SEC play for the first time in program history, still without a breakthrough as the halfway point of the conference slate looms after next week. This latest stinger at least involved a comeback and commendable fight for a team in the midst of a lost season, something that looked far-fetched for most of the afternoon.

"I was happy with how we competed and how we fought," Paris said. "I do believe our day is coming. When I say that I don't mean our day to win. Obviously it would entail some of that, but I think our day where we recognize what it is that really prevents us from handling some of these games in a way that we win."

The Gamecocks trailed 50-36 with under seven minutes remaining, but point guard Jamarii Thomas led a furious charge down the stretch in his first game back from a right knee sprain. South Carolina’s transfer point guard, still with a brace on his knee, scored 19 points including 10 in the second half. He banked in a clutch 3-pointer to trim the deficit to six points with under four minutes to go, and hit all four of his free throw attempts during the rally.

Zachary Davis made the key play, picking up a steal at midcourt and gliding down the floor for a game-tying layup on South Carolina’s final offensive possession of regulation. The defense, buoyed by a suddenly rejuvenated home crowd, clamped down for one final stop on a Hubbard buzzer-beater attempt and sent the game to overtime, South Carolina’s second home overtime game in the last month.

"It wasn't like a big run," Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans said. "It just kind of slowly but surely started getting away from us."

Away from his team, but not far enough away in regulation. Mississippi State absorbed the punch, re-grouped and got back to its best defensive self in overtim. A 1-of-6 shooting performance in overtime sunk South Carolina's comeback attempt, and kept the zero in the win column in SEC play.

"We've just got to keep maturing and learning from all the end of game scenarios that we're getting put in," Thomas said. "Just keep learning from them, and try to come out with the win."

If South Carolina does it in its next opportunity, it will have to be on the road. The Gamecocks travel to Georgia on Tuesday for their first of two match-ups against the Bulldogs this season.

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