The USC Gamecocks stunned the Vanderbilt Commodores in overtime by the score of 83-75. The win was tremendous for USC as they battled from being down 14 points to get the victory on their home court. South Carolina was led by Sam Muldrow, who had a triple-double, and Bruce Ellington with his 22 point effort.
This win moves USC to 1-0 in SEC play and 10-4 overall.
In our preview, we asked for USC to surprise us and they did. We also laid out that the Gamecocks needed to accomplish three things to win so let’s review this game –
1. Win the Rebound battle.
CHECK as the Gamecocks outrebounded Vandy 44-38. Cooke and Muldrow combined for 27 rebounds but USC also had 18 offensive boards.
2. Get the best interior play of the season. Looking for Muldrow to step up big and also Harris/Cooke to have a special game.
Muldrow was a beast. His stat line -16 Pts, 14 Reb, 1 Stl, 10 Blk. Wow. Cooke played a really strong game and had some clutch plays down the stretch.
3. Outside shooting from USC must be on point. No brick laying tonight please.
Well USC as a team shot 44% from the field and 37% from 3 ball land. The hot hand from the arch was Ellington with a 6-12 shooting night from three point land.
What made the the win so special is South Carolina team started three freshmen and had seven players who had never been in an SEC game. One of those freshman was point guard Bruce Ellington and boy did he splash onto the SEC scene. Can we say SEC Freshman of the Week? Ellington, with his hot hand late, scored 12 of the Gamecocks final 15 points in regulation to help fuel the come-from-behind-win. Also do not forget Lakeem Jackson who had 17 points and is quietly putting together a strong game as he has had scored 49 points in the last three games.
The win with its 22 point swing over the final 18 minutes of play for South Carolina moves the ‘Cocks to 1-2 against the Top 25. This was a quality win to start SEC play as Vandy had a RPI of 18 going into the game. Next up for South Carolina is a road game versus Alabama on Wednesday at 9pm.
