MBB: Gamecocks upset Texas A&M
South Carolina upset Texas A&M 81-78 on the road Saturday. Sindarius Thornwell led all scorers with 25 points and dished out nine assists.
Nearly ten years to the day after the last time it beat a top ten on the road, Saturday's win over the eighth-ranked Aggies may have changed the complexion of the Gamecocks' entire season. There is still a lot of basketball left to be played, but the book was written on the Gamecocks: a perfect non-conference record built without a marquee win and a team that couldn't win on the road in conference. What are the two most important things the selection committee looks at? Quality non-conference wins and road wins in conference.
Two minutes into the game, it looked like the Gamecocks were headed for another embarrassing road loss and some soul-searching to follow. The Aggies led 8-0 thanks to a pair of threes, taking advantage of the Gamecocks' porous three-point defense, which had been brutal in the road losses.
Frank Martin called a timeout, uttered a few choice words, and South Carolina came out a new team. Duane Notice attacked the rim and made a floater, and South Carolina was off. South Carolina didn't just get back in the game, it took the lead with a 15-3 run. Notice added another three during the run, and Thornwell was everyone on both ends of the court.
The game followed that pattern all the way to the end. One team made a run, and then the other made a run. Texas A&M's 8-0 run led to South Carolina's 15-3 run. Then came a 9-0 South Carolina run , answered by an 11-1 Texas A&M run. A 7-0 run by South Carolina early in the second half was followed by a 7-0 Texas A&M run. But the next run also was the last. South Carolina went on an 11-0 run over five minutes and time ran out on Texas A&M
The Aggies led 70-68 at the under eight media timeout, and ## Jones went to the line trying to complete the three-point play. He missed the free throw, and the Gamecocks seized momentum. PJ Dozier rebounded his own miss and scored to tie the game. He then hit a ten-foot pull-up jumper to take the lead. Michael Carrera added a three-pointer, and then Thornwell capped the run with a pair of baskets to give the Gamecocks a 79-70 lead.
Texas A&M outscored South Carolina 8-2 over the final 2:16 and got some help from South Carolina, but it wasn't enough. Dozier and Carrera both made 1-2 free throws after being fouled, when one more point would have sealed the win. Then, on a chaotic play that had both teams clamoring for a foul call, Laimonas Chatkevicius overthrew Notice on an inbounds pass to give Texas A&M one last chance with 4.6 seconds left and needing a three.
Chris Silva hounded Alex Caruso, the inbounds passer, who had to throw a poor pass to avoid a five-second violation. Carrera got a hand in to keep Tonny Trocha-Morelos from catching the ball, and Thornwell grabbed the loose ball. He threw the ball ahead to Dozier to dribble out the clock.
Thornwell was outstanding during the game, leading the Gamecocks in points, rebounds, assits, and steals. His 25 points came on 9-20 shooting, and he made four three-pointers. His nine assists tied a career-high. Carrera also hit the 20-point mark for the fourth time in the last five games, and scored his 1,000th career point in the process. Carrera was a perfect 6-6 from the floor and 5-5 from behind the arc, but he uncharacteristically struggled from the line, going 3-7.
Notes:
The Gamecocks' last road win over a top ten team was a 71-67 victory at no. 7 Florida on February 8, 2006. ... Mindaugas Kacinas scored 11 points for South Carolina. ... Laimonas Chatkevicius had a brutal game. He missed three layups and has three turnovers and could seemingly do nothing right. To his credit, he did make two important baskets late in the second half. ... The Gamecocks shot better from three than from the free throw line. They were 12-21 (57.1 percent) from three and 9-16 (56.3 percent) from the line. ... South Carolina narrowly outrebounded Texas A&M, 32-30.
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