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MBB: Gamecocks come back from 11 down to beat Ole Miss in overtime

South Carolina defeated Ole Miss 77-74 in a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win. Michael Carrera led the Gamecocks with 19 points, including the go-ahead basket in overtime.

For 36 minutes, it was déjà vu all over again for South Carolina. The same failings that led to the blowout loss at Alabama had resurfaced in Oxford. Ole Miss was hitting its threes and South Carolina couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Even when it got to the free throw line, South Carolina was missing more than it made. There was no consistency on offense or defense, and Ole Miss was up 66-55, in control with an 11-point lead that felt like 20. Then came the final four minutes, and everything changed.

Laimonas Chatkevicius scored on a putback and then the Rebels committed a turnover. After the media timeout, little-used Jamall Gregory drove the lane and electrified the Gamecocks with a tomahawk dunk. Chatkevicius and Sindarius Thornwell scored the next three points from the free throw line, and the Gamecocks called a timeout down four with 1:34 left.

Marcanvis Hymon, who scored 10 points, missed a pair of free throws for Ole Miss, and Carrera began his heroics. He made back to back twisting layups to tie the game and cap off the 11-0 run to end regulation. The Gamecocks had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Duane Notice missed a contested runner in the lane.

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Thornwell broke the 66-66 tie with a free throw to start overtime, but the teams went into the final minute tied again at 72. Once again, Carrera was the hero. He muscled up a shot in traffic, making the basket and drawing the foul. He made the free throw to put South Carolina ahead for good. Brooks missed a three to tie the game, and Carrera grabbed the rebound. He was quickly fouled and made both free throws to put South Carolina up five with 10 seconds left. Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey added an inconsequential layup for the final score.

Carrera finished just shy of a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds. He did most of his work in the second half and overtime after having to sit early with two fouls. Carrera was also 7-8 from the free throw line on a night when the Gamecocks shot just 68 percent from the line.

Midway through the second half, South Carolina was a miserable 9-17 from the stripe. But over the final minutes of regulation, it made six of its final seven free throw attempts, and then six of seven in overtime. Made free throws were critical to South Carolina's comeback, as it made five more free throws than Ole Miss, which missed several attempts down the stretch.

South Carolina also got a spark from Gregory. His only shot attempt was the dunk, but he also made a pair of free throws, grabbed five rebounds, and had the assist on the first of Carrera's big layups. Chatkevicius had 17 points and 10 rebounds to help South Carolina to a plus-12 rebounding advantage. Fellow Lithuanian Mindaugas Kacinas had 10 points and 7 rebounds, and the pair did most of the scoring for South Carolina in the first half.

Stefan Moody led all scorers with 24 points, and was an efficient 8-13 shooting. He chipped in five assists and four rebounds, but only went to the line four times.

Notes:

Notice had 14 points of the bench, and was 4-8 from three. He was the only Gamecock to hit from deep. ... Thornwell had a miserable shooting night, going 1-15 from the floor and 3-8 from the line. ... Anthony Perez had 12 points in the first half, but was saddled with foul trouble after intermission and fouled out with only 16 points.

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