Jacobi Wright hit a jumper with 13 seconds left in overtime to lift visiting South Carolina to a 71-69 victory over Missouri on Saturday in Columbia, Mo.
B.J. Mack scored 21 points for the Gamecocks (14-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference). Wright and Ta'lon Cooper each scored 11 for South Carolina and Myles Stute had 10.
Noah Carter led the Tigers (8-8, 0-3) with 23 points, but he missed a potential game-winning 3-point shot in the final seconds of overtime.
Sean East II had 15 points and 8 rebounds for Missouri and Tamar Bates scored 12.
Both teams struggled offensively through the first half. The Tigers missed their first 10 shots from 3-point range while the Gamecocks started 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.
There were five lead changes in the first 20 minutes and neither team was able to pull away.
After Missouri took a 12-11 lead, neither team led by more than two points until the Tigers used a 10-2 surge move ahead 29-23 with 3:17 left in the half. East sparked the run with an acrobatic drive to the basket and a deep 3-pointer.
The Gamecocks responded by outscoring the Tigers 9-4 for the rest of the half to cut their deficit to 33-32. Meechie Johnson hit a 3-point jumper and scored on a drive to get South Carolina moving again.
Anthony Robinson hit a 3-point jumper to extend Missouri's lead to 48-42 in the second half, but Mack quickly answered with a 3-point shot to keep the Gamecocks within range.
After Cooper hit a 3-point shot to tie the game with 25 seconds left, East's missed turnaround jumper at the buzzer forced overtime.
Cooper converted a conventional three-point play to put South Carolina up 67-62 with 2:24 left. The Tigers rallied to tie the game 69-69 on Carter's 3-point jumper, but Wright decided the game with a mid-range jumper.
--Field Level Media
South Carolina | Missouri | |
B.J. Mack 21 | Scoring | Noah Carter 23 |
Ta'Lon Cooper 3 | Assists | Jesus Carralero Martin 4 |
Ta'Lon Cooper 8 | Rebounds | Sean East II 8 |
B.J. Mack 6 | Free Throws Made | Sean East II 4 |
Meechie Johnson 1 | Steals | Jesus Carralero Martin 4 |
N/A | Blocks | Connor Vanover 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
South Carolina | 71 | 40.7 | 7-24 | 16-18 | 12 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
Missouri | 69 | 41.9 | 5-22 | 12-18 | 13 | 28 | 3 | 11 | 7 |