 continued their improbable SEC run. They entered league play with a 5-7 preconference mark, but have won five of their first six, beating a pair of ranked opponents in Mississippi State and the Tigers.The Tigers (13-5, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) used a late 12-0 run to wipe out South Carolina's 71-61 lead. They were still ahead 77-75 after Jared Harper's two foul shots with 56.3 to go. That's when Haase nailed his long-range, go-ahead basket from the right corner.Chuma Okeke missed a 3-pointer and Danjel Purifoy couldn't connect on a driving basket on Auburn's next possession before Silva came down with his 14th rebound and got fouled with 2.5 seconds to play.Silva made both, and Auburn threw away the pass on its final possession to lose its second straight heartbreaker following an 82-80 loss to Kentucky last Saturday.Auburn appeared to be finished after Hassani Gravett's floater went in just as the shot clock expired for a 71-61 lead with 6:33 to go. But the explosive Tigers shot their way back in it, making five of their next six attempts in a two-minute span.Okeke's 3 from the left front put Auburn ahead 73-71 with 4:01 remaining, capping a 12-0 surge.Silva bettered his previous high of 27 points, accomplished twice against Kentucky. He made 11 of 12 shots and 10 of 11 free throws, and had four of South Carolina's eight blocks.Brown and Harper scored 17 points each for Auburn.Silva got the Gamecocks going early on both ends of the court. He scored the first four points and had two early blocks. When Hassani Gravett hit two straight 3-pointers and Haase made an open jumper, South Carolina was ahead 25-14 with 9:20 left in the half and Auburn hurting from cold shooting and foul trouble.Auburn rallied when Brown heated up. After missing his first three shots, Brown scored 10 points as the Tigers closed the half on a 24-12 run.THE BIG PICTUREAuburn: The Tigers showed spurts of stellar play amid several long stretches of offensive struggles. They started the game going 4 of 14 from the field before their closing run. They fell behind 62-53, and then scored six points in four seconds to tighten things up.South Carolina: The Gamecocks have found their stride at the perfect time with Silva, the 6-foot-9 senior, in charge. He has become the team's most accomplished and capable scorer.UP NEXTAuburn plays at No. 22 Mississippi State on Saturday night.South Carolina visits Oklahoma State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Jan 21, 2019Perhaps a team's ability to rally late in a game, even if it doesn't pull out a victory, can carry over to the next game.If that's the case, then South Carolina might be in a whole lot of trouble Tuesday night when No. 16 Auburn visits Colonial Life Arena for an SEC matchup.The Tigers (13-4, 2-2 SEC) wiped out a 17-point second-half deficit Saturday and took a late lead on Kentucky before falling 82-80 in Auburn Arena, getting 28 points on just nine field goal attempts from Bryce Brown. He was 6 of 7 on 3-pointers, but his heroics weren't enough to stop the Wildcats.Coach Bruce Pearl wants the Tigers to do a couple of specific things in their matchup with the Gamecocks (9-8, 4-1)."We've got to be able to handle the physicality of the game and be able to use our quickness and speed more," he said.South Carolina was tied with Tennessee atop the SEC until it ran into the conference's other unbeaten team Saturday night. The Gamecocks' five-game winning streak crashed in the bayou, as LSU established a 48-28 halftime lead en route to an 89-67 decision.In the view of South Carolina coach Frank Martin, there was nothing his team could claim as a positive."We got totally outplayed, especially their guards who dominated our guards," he said. "We lost in every statistical category. I've never coached a game like this where we got destroyed on the glass." Not only did the Gamecocks get out-rebounded 49-29, their offense ground to a halt. They had been averaging 82.8 points per game during their winning streak, with four players tallying between 12.4 and 14.8 points per game.Only A. J. Lawson held up his end of the deal at LSU, scoring a team-high 18. Keyshawn Bryant was held to 10. Hassani Gravett managed only nine. South Carolina doesn't have enough margin for error to beat good teams without its key players contributing.Meanwhile, Auburn has to find a way to get back on track on the road this week. After this game, the Tigers face a difficult test Saturday night at No. 22 Mississippi State in a conference matchup of teams not invited to the weekend soiree with the Big 12 Conference.For Auburn to succeed, it will need more from Brown, who is their leading scorer at 16.9 points per game and is canning 40.0 percent of his 3-pointers. The Tigers also are going to need more 17-point, six-assist games like the one Jared Harper produced against Kentucky.Harper canned a 3-ball that put the Tigers ahead 80-79 with 32 seconds left. He had a chance to put them in the lead in the final 10 seconds, but his runner in the lane went begging."I feel like when I shot it, I put it in the right place on the backboard," Harper said. "It just didn't go in." The Tigers are playing short-handed for a couple of weeks. Austin Wiley, their 6-foot-11, 260-pound center who is averaging 10.8 points and 6.1 rebounds, is out with a lower-leg injury suffered last week at Texas A&M.--Field Level Media
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