National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
South Carolina 68, Alabama 66
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials: # Patrick Adams, # Lee Cassell, # Ron Groover
Attendance: 11085

South Carolina 68, Alabama 66: Michael Carrera recorded 12 points and eight rebounds as the host Gamecocks snapped the Crimson Tide's six-game winning streak in a contest marred by 54 fouls.

Mindaugus Kacinas registered 10 points and eight rebounds for South Carolina (10-5, 1-2 SEC), which snapped a two-game losing streak with their eighth victory in the last 10 games. Tyrone Johnson scored 13 points as the Gamecocks won the battle on the boards 33-23 while surviving 3-of-14 shooting from 3-point range.

Ricky Tarrant scored 15 points before fouling out and Levi Randolph added 13 for Alabama (12-4, 2-1), which had won its first two SEC games by a combined 39 points. The Crimson Tide lost for the 17th time in their last 18 road games and fell to 1-13 in their last 14 SEC contests away from home.

Tarrant fouled out with 4:42 left and Alabama trailing 64-58, but the Crimson Tide cut the deficit to 68-66 on a pair of free throws by Michael Kessens with 45.8 seconds remaining. After Shannon Hale blocked Sindarius Thornwell's shot on the ensuing possession, Alabama coach Anthony Grant used his final timeout with 11.1 seconds to play, but South Carolina did not allow the Crimson Tide to drive to the basket and Randolph's long 3-pointer bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

After Alabama scored the first nine points, the Gamecocks - after missing their first six shots - answered with the next nine and four lead changes later, South Carolina went ahead for good 18-16 on Johnson's jumper en route to a 30-25 lead at intermission. The Gamecocks' Duane Notice scored the first six points after the break on a 3-pointer and a three-point play, and his bucket with 16:23 remaining gave South Carolina its largest lead 43-30.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Crimson Tide were 20-for-30 from the free-throw line and the Gamecocks 21-for-27 in the 11th straight meeting decided by 10 or fewer points. ... Alabama, which snapped a 16-game road losing streak with a 56-38 victory over Tennessee on Saturday, had held its last eight opponents to 61 points or fewer. ... South Carolina's Laimonas Chatkevicius and Kessens received technical fouls with 9:42 remaining after a brief altercation following Chatkevicius' hard foul on Randolph.
Top Game Performances
 
Alabama   South Carolina
Ricky Tarrant 15 Scoring Tyrone Johnson 13
Rodney Cooper 4 Assists Marcus Stroman 3
Jimmie Taylor 5 Rebounds Michael Carrera 8
Levi Randolph 6 Free Throws Made Michael Carrera 7
Riley Norris 2 Steals Tyrone Johnson 2
Jimmie Taylor 2 Blocks Demetrius Henry 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Alabama 66 48.8 6-17 20-30 13 22 4 4 13
South Carolina 68 41.5 3-14 21-27 9 32 1 5 12