Sindarius Thornwell returned from a six-game suspension and had a big night, leading South Carolina to a 67-61 road win over Georgia on Wednesday night in an SEC game at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.

Sophomore guard P.J. Dozier had a game-high 24 points. Thornwell finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and three blocks for the Gamecocks (11-3, 1-0 SEC) in their SEC opener.

Georgia junior forward Yante Maten scored 18 points and hit a 3-pointer with 57.9 seconds left that cut South Carolina's lead to 62-61.

But Thornwell answered with a contested layup and then caused a turnover on Georgia's next possession to help South Carolina prevail and avenge last season's loss to the Bulldogs in the SEC tournament.

Senior guard J.J. Frazier finished with 16 points and junior guard Juwan Parker added 12 points for the Bulldogs (9-5, 1-1 SEC), who had their four-game winning streak against the Gamecocks snapped.

South Carolina opened the second half with a 10-3 run, and Thornwell knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Gamecocks a 51-43 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

Georgia answered with a run of its own, with a layup from Frazier cutting the deficit to two with 8:29 left.

In a tight, back-and-forth first half, Dozier knocked a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give South Carolina a 36-34 halftime lead. Dozier had 14 points in the first half.

South Carolina won its first eight games but had dropped three of its last five, including a 16-point loss at Memphis last week.

Thornwell, who leads the Gamecocks in scoring and rebounding, was reinstated Monday after his suspension for undisclosed reasons. South Carolina went 3-3 during Thornwell's absence.

The Gamecocks host Texas A&M on Saturday. Georgia hosts Missouri on Saturday.