Junior guard Javante McCoy had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Boston University upset South Carolina 78-70 on Tuesday night in Columbia, S.C.
The Terriers (3-2) used a late 9-0 run to break a 60-all tie, with McCoy contributing seven points during that stretch to lead his team to its first win over an SEC school and first over a power-conference team since winning at Maryland in 2013.
Boston hit nine three-pointers, one more than South Carolina (3-1) had allowed in its first three games, holding opponents to 16.3 percent from the perimeter, but Boston had six players drain a triple.
The Gamecocks missed eight straight shots late in the second half and were only 40.3 percent from the field. They also missed nine of 21 free throws, continuing a season-long trouble of poor foul shooting, and were 4 of 22 from 3-point range, including 1 of 10 in the second half.
Sophomore forward A.J. Lawson, who led South Carolina with 22 points, hit a 3 with four seconds left to give it a 38-35 halftime lead after trailing by as many as four in the first half. The Gamecocks fell behind 45-41 in the second half when they went without a point for more than three minutes before senior forward Maik Kotsar was fouled on a made jumper, then Lawson scored on a putback with 13:29 left after Kotsar missed the free throw.
The Terriers built a 56-51 lead with 10:14 left on a 3 by junior guard Andrew Petcash, but a three-point play by Lawson with 7:05 to go knotted it at 60.
That was South Carolina's last basket until there were 42 seconds left, during which Boston went on a 13-4 run.
The game was part of the preliminary round of the Cancun Challenge, which continues next week in Mexico. Boston visits West Virginia on Friday before facing Northern Colorado on Tuesday, while South Carolina hosts Gardner-Webb on Friday, then takes on Wichita State on Tuesday.
--Field Level Media
Boston U | South Carolina | |
Javante McCoy 17 | Scoring | A.J. Lawson 22 |
Alex Vilarino 6 | Assists | A.J. Lawson 5 |
Walter Whyte 8 | Rebounds | Jair Bolden 7 |
Alex Vilarino 5 | Free Throws Made | Justin Minaya 6 |
Walter Whyte 2 | Steals | A.J. Lawson 2 |
Javante McCoy 1 | Blocks | Maik Kotsar 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Boston U | 78 | 42.2 | 9-25 | 15-22 | 15 | 36 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
South Carolina | 70 | 40.3 | 4-22 | 12-21 | 14 | 40 | 5 | 6 | 13 |