Gamecocks sit at .500 thanks to a loss to Mississippi State

The South Carolina Gamecocks fell at home to the Mississippi State Bulldogs by the score of 76-63.

For the Gamecocks Basketball Team and its’ fans this is painful to watch. After starting the season 4-0 and getting to 11-5 two games into conference play, South Carolina has played its way down to a 14-14 record and is tied for last in the SEC East at 5-9. SC is riding a 5 game losing streak.

As usual the Gamecocks had a chance but as the night wore on the chance diminished. In a night that saw the Gamecocks get some balanced scoring, its star guard faded. USC had five players in double figures, led by center Sam Muldrow’s 15 points while freshman guard Ramon Galloway chipped in with 14. Lakeem Jackson had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Devan Downey, who came into the game averaging an SEC-high 22.9 points per game, was held to 5-of-14 shooting and was 0-for-7 from behind the arc. Downey only got to the free-throw line twice, going 2-3. Devan finished with an SEC-low 12 points.

Mississippi State (21-8, 9-5), which earned first place in the West, did what it does best against USC. The Bulldogs shot a lot of 3-pointers and made a lot. With Stewart leading the way, MSU made 10 of 21 long range jumpers.

The Bulldogs led 35-28 at halftime behind seven first-half 3s, but the Gamecocks got within two with 16:45 to play. MSU responded with a 14-3 run over the next 4 and a half minutes, highlighted by Ravern Johnson’s bomb with 12:24 left to go up 14.

USC cut the Bulldogs’ advantage to single digits when a Lakeem Jackson layup made the score 63-54 with 6:43 to play, but MSU’s Kodi Augustus came right back with a 3-pointer in front of Brandis Raley-Ross as the shot clock wound down to give MSU a 12-point lead.

The Gamecocks couldn’t get the score under 10 the rest of the way, leaving USC in need of a win over the Crimson Tide to get back over .500 with Vanderbilt looming next Saturday.

Quote of the Night comes from Mississippi State Head Basketball Coach Rick Stansbury –

“I hope we never have to play against Devan Downey again,” said Stansbury. “He’s not just one of the best players in the state, he’s one of the best players in the country. For us to come in here and do a defensive job on him is pretty impressive for some of our guys.

“He never got going. I never thought he got into a flow.”

When Devan is not in a flow, the chance of a Gamecocks win is slim to none.

{photo credit – AP}

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