MBB: Gamecocks beat Alabama 78-64

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South Carolina avenged its first loss of the season with a 78-64 win over Alabama. Michael Carrera continued to dominate, with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Alabama ended South Carolina's undefeated start to the season with a 73-50 shellacking back on January 13. Alabama controlled that game from the start, and South Carolina never really had a chance to make the score close. This time out, South Carolina made sure there would be no slow start.

Mindaugas Kacinas opened the scoring with a three from the corner. After Shannon Hale tied the game, Sindarius Thornwell added another three. Thornwell, Kacinas, and Carrera scored the next six points on layups, and the Gamecocks were ahead 12-5 just over three minutes into the game.

"That was big," Thornwell said. "It gave us momentum and confidence and got the crowd going."

The Crimson Tide regrouped and took their only lead of the game at 20-19 on a three by Retin Obasohan. Carrera answered with a three to retake the lead. It was the first of two big threes he made, and it kick-started an 11-2 Gamecock run.

The Gamecocks led 35-26 at halftime, and held their largest lead at 60-45 with 9:36 left. That was when Tide senior guard Retin Obasohan took over. He grabbed an offensive rebound and made a pair of free throws. After a jumper, he got a steal and dunk. Two more free throws set up another steal and dunk for Obasohan. He added another layup to complete a personal 14 point run that drew the Tide within striking distance. Hale broke the streak with a fast break layup (off a rebound by Obasohan), but the Tide had cut the 15-point deficit to 6 with 4:23 left. But the final four minutes belonged to Carrera.

Carrera brought life back to South Carolina with a pullup three, and broke Alabama's spirit at the same time.

"I knew we needed a score," Carrera said. "I made a jab step and he kind of fell. I just let it go and thank god I made it."

"That was a backbreaker for us," Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. Then he added, "He's a fun kid to watch - on video, not when you're on the sideline coaching against him."

After the three, Carrera added a pair of free throws, PJ Dozier scored on a putback, and then Carrera made four straight free throws to put the game out of reach. Over the final 4:23, Carrera had nine points and two rebounds to help notch his second consecutive double-double and his fifth of the season.

"We knew we got to play hard," Carrera said. "We know we played really bad at Alabama. We knew what was coming and we handled it really well."

South Carolina won the game by doing the two things it does best: rebounding the ball and attacking the rim. South Carolina held a 50-41 rebounding edge, and drew 30 fouls against Alabama. Once again, South Carolina made more free throws (28) than the other team attempted (25), but a pitiful shooting percentage from the strip made the game much closer than it had to be. South Carolina was just 9-19 at halftime and was under 50 percent well into the second half. It finished the game 28-46 from the line for 61 percent. Carrera carried the free throw percentage as well, making 12-14 from the line.

"I don't usually make guys run for missing free throws, but we're going to have to start doing that," Frank Martin said. "We're going to lose a game because of free throws."

Thornwell said that earlier in the week the coaches told players that Alabama struggled to defend the rim.

"We had the mindset that they weren't protecting the rim," he said. "We just weren't aggressive down there. Tonight we wanted to be aggressive and attack the rim."

Chris Silva got the first start of his career, replacing Laimonas Chatkevicius in the lineup. Silva is a better defender than Chatkevicius, and Martin credited Silva's defense with helping the Gamecocks get off to the fast start. Silva finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks.

"He blocked some shots early in the game that when their guards drove (later in the game), they were looking for him," Martin said.

Notes:

Junior guard Justin McKie did not play due to an illness. ... Former baseball great Jackie Bradley, Jr. was recognized during a timeout. He has been making the rounds over the past week, taking in the baseball scrimmage earlier Saturday and attending the women's basketball game Thursday night. ... Raymond Doby played three minutes in the first half, missing two shots. His only other action in an SEC game this season came late in the blowout loss to Alabama. ... Eric Cobb made the first free throw of his career in the first half. He went 1-4 in the game to move to 1-18 on the season. ... Duane Notice scored seven points off the bench. Notice had a death in the family earlier in the week, and Martin applauding him for playing well despite the distraction. ... Thornwell finished with 14 points. ... Chatkevicius had eight points and four rebounds in 11 minutes. ... Fans finally cashed in on the Chick-fil-A Fowl Shot. Late in the game, if an opposing player misses both foul shots, fans receive free Chick-fil-A. After Obasohan missed his first free throw late in the game, Colonial Life Arena was as loud as it has been for a men's game in a few years. It got even louder when Obasohan missed the second. ... Attendance was 18,000. The game was officially a sellout, the seventh sellout in Colonial Life Arena history, although there were numerous empty seats around the top of the arena. ... South Carolina returns to action Tuesday night at Georgia.

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